I want to give you a piece of advice.
I don’t know what you are hoping for in life. I know you want to be happy, that should be everyone’s goal and that’s important. But I also know that concern for being or staying “Happy” can become an excuse for inaction. True happiness is when we are able to be our “true self” without fear of rejection. You see, we all have someone inside of us, the dreamer, the optimist, the one who can change the world for the better, we dare not reveal in full, for fear of rejection or failure.
I call that person – the person we truly are once you trim away the protective gear and masquerades – your “True self.”
Exposing ourselves, revealing ourselves can be an extremely scary feeling. But suppressing those gifts of expression or wants and desires, I believe, can have even more devastating effects.
When one suppresses their true self, suppresses their ability to express themselves as only they can – those feelings become a cancer.
They begin to eat you up inside – they manifest themselves into back pain, stomach ailments, anxiety, depression and so many other illnesses which can rob one of precious time.
We are surrounded by people who are angry, frustrated or resentful because they are not being true to themselves. They suffer inside and express themselves how only the angry, the unhappy or the resentful can express themselves – by being bully’s, by stealing or killing the spirits of the free.
They are so frightened of others who are living their lives as their true self – that they constantly judge, insult and berate them – most of the time in front of others to see. Very rarely will it be a one on one conversation. You see, the bully needs to act powerful to compensate for their weakness, so they make sure there are witnesses who can testify on their behalf. Some of the phrases they will use; “Stop dreaming and wake up!” “You are not capable; you are good but not as good as others”, “If it were so easy everyone would do it.” Or my favorite, “Grow up!”
How often do you find yourself thinking, “I am tired.”
Of course you are tired, you are constantly living a lie and scared to be caught! Those feelings of fear or sadness, are the result of suppressing your true self – the feeling of exhaustion comes from working so hard to keep your true self from exposing itself.
Fight or flight – instead of fighting the distractions around us we run from our true self constantly, hence the exhaustion and the constant need for a strong cup of coffee.
It can feel like a constant train wreck about to occur – how relaxed can you feel when your world is always on the verge of destruction?
Within each human being there is another human being yearning to reveal itself. That human being is the “true self.” Happy is the person who lives his life the way he chooses to – not driven by others conceptions of how life should be lived.
Freddy Zalta 