In a world where you can be anything, be yourself!
Many have lost their true self in the bid to be like others. You deny yourself that taste of original, you gave away that natural you in order to become that fake another that you will try so hard, frustrate and suppress yourself to fit in. You no longer enjoy that self free will, just to belong to the current trends.
We all have been guilty of pretending to be people we’re not one way or the other in the past just to be accepted for reasons best known to us. I can never forget a classmate who always boasted of not eating local food until she fell sick and vomited a local delicacy (Fufu) in the class. We’ve become someone else for so long that we forget our real identity. Many don’t want to be left out of social media fun; they overstretch their financial capability becoming slaves to debt. You rent a house you can’t afford just to keep up with friends, then end up doing things you are not supposed to in order to keep up.
It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are. The only person you should try your best to be better than is that person you were yesterday. Light doesn’t shine where there is already light but in darkness. Being yourself doesn’t make you less of a person it makes you different. You become your own bully when you suppress your true self in order to become another person. You derive joy when are your true self. You have inner joy, you’re comfortable anywhere, anytime. Try talking calmly to yourself after stressful daily activities, always remind yourself that you’re the best version of you.
You must not pretend to have it just to belong. One irony about lying is that you have to use another lie to cover it up, becoming a slave to the person you’re not. For instance, if I don’t cook this, they will think I don’t have money and that’s not what you want to eat or maybe you don’t even have the money to. Some years back, after I had lied about tasting ketchup because my friends said they had, few weeks after, I was faced with eating what I despise so much because I wanted to belong.
We’ve been guilty of this out of fear or desire to be accepted or loved. You put your children in a school you can’t afford, putting yourself under pressure or frustrating the poor you, just to pay fees you can’t afford, impressing people who don’t even care. You no longer feed well because your children are in schools you can barely afford, you compete with people who pay with little or no stress. There are no awards for people who belong to the current trends.
To fall in love with your self is the first secret to happiness. The moment you accept yourself you become beautiful. Until you understand that being flawed is not a death sentence, until you can genuinely forgive yourself you’re still far from being you. I know there are times you need to wear a mask, this does not mean you should allow your true self to get lost in the process. For instance, you can’t tell your best friend how big the mum’s head or mouth is or your spouse how ugly the mother is. You have to know where to draw the line. You have to realize that you can’t be good for everyone.
Disengage yourself from friendships and relationships that don’t support you from being your authentic self. Resist the pressure to have the same material things as people around you and people on social media for self sanity.
The main importance of being yourself is comfortability. Sure, life will be much easier to live when you are truly yourself.
If you’re searching for that one person that will change your life, take a look in the mirror, love yourself first because that’s who you will be spending the rest of your life with.
“In a world where you can be anything, be yourself”
Ogochukwu Egomdi
Twitter: Ogochukwu Egomdi
Email: ogochukwuegomdi@gmail.com
Instagram: egomdichristiana
08061240501
