Are you being true to you?

Are you being who you truly are?

This is something that we have to ask ourselves every day. Did I live in my truth today? Was I true to myself? Often we get caught up in the need to conform, just fit in. We often feel a deep need to be accepted by others so we shut parts of ourselves off to fit in.

When I was a teenager I was a rebel of the biggest proportion. I was not a rebel who spiked her hair but a rebel who spoke her truth. I would outrage people with my opinions about animal cruelty and children. i was not afraid to stand up and fight for their rights. I would wear tight clothes and fluffy hair and lots of makeup if i felt like it. I did not care what people thought.

Then I met a boy who didn't like who I was, so I stopped being who I was so as not to enrage him. And so the story ended.

Now in my fifties, I am once again reevaluating my life. It is with new eyes that I am looking around me to see what I have missed out on while I was busy filling other peoples needs. I know I am not someone everybody likes, I swear, I laugh out loud, I fart in public and I find things to giggle about when I am by myself. I also find the most inappropriate things funny - like when your child steps in dog shit.

But you know, that is me and I like who I am. I tried to be someone else. For a lot of years I tried to be polite and nice and not offend anyone. But all that did was get me a whole lot of false friends and some great enemies.

Now life is calm and happy. I have some amazing friends who also laugh out loud over silly things. They talk to themselves and they make silly choices just like me. They do not care if i occasionally swear, if I fart or if I am occasionally a Debby Downer. They love me for who I am.

Because NOW, I am BEING who I AM! I am being my true self in all my glory.

And of course there is more to me than a farting, giggling mess. I do also paint, sew, garden, hold spiritual classes, love the beach, the outdoors, travelling and writing. But only the people who know me well and take the time to get to know and understand me will know these things about me.

Which brings me back to you. Are you being your true self. Is there parts of you that are hidden. Do your friends know your favourite thing to do. Do they know what your passion is? Do your kids know what makes you want to live for? Does your partner know what makes you tick, what your dreams are? Or have you given up, residing in a body each day that just conforms, does what it needs to do and sleeps.

Often in a long term relationship, even with our children, people form perceptions of us and then we accept them. It is easier to be who people think we are, than to break out of the mould and have to face other people's opinion about us. Believe me as a counsellor, I see more often than not people afraid to change...what will their family think?

It is time to wake up! The universal alarm is going off! There is no more time to pretend. You will be left behind. It is time to be true to yourself. To live life, to find fun and beauty in the simplicity of life. Before you know it you will be no longer travelling this journey, you will be in another place or dimension. We get a limited amount of time here. Make the most of it. Sing, laugh, cry, grieve, be happy, confused, be amazing. But BE something! Be you!