One of the most effective ways I can live is by being myself. If you, like me, have spent too much of your life hiding who you really are, read on!
When I was 7 or 8 years old, being myself, a couple of neighborhood girls shoved me to the ground, telling me they did not want to play dolls with me. Maybe that sounds pretty mild to you, but for me, it was the beginning of a lifetime of hiding who I truly was inside.
Being very sensitive to others, I got hurt easily (and sometimes still do). However, this same trait, which I had hated for most of my life, has also led me to serve others. Admirable? Maybe, but it also made me mold myself into a people pleaser. Being a people pleaser has served me over the years, but it has also compromised my ability to be myself in some instances.
Are you still following me? Everything seems to have two sides. One where I am shining as a person, and one where I am being used and abused! It took me years to find a balance!
I related to the Science of Mind Magazine Daily Guide for Thursday, August 14: The Courage to Shine.
Here is an excerpt:
The urge to shine lives brightly within us. We want to be ourselves, fully and completely, and be seen, heard, and acknowledged for being ourselves. This desire within can be painfully squashed as we find ourselves shrinking in alignment with others’ opinions about who or what we are or are not.
Oh boy! Reading that line took me back to that little girl, lying in the mud after the girls, who I thought were my friends, had pushed me down. All I wanted to do was shine!
Fast forward 40 or so years, and I started to realize that I was truly a valuable person with skills and talents that could help others. Bingo! Here, my sensitivity to others and my people-pleasing approach stopped being a curse and became a blessing!
I found out, as the Daily Guide says, that “hiding out every day and not embracing our unique selves, not letting them shine, is like dying a little death every day.”
Remember the phrase: “What other people think of you is none of your business?” To truly shine as manifestations of Spirit within, we must remember this.
Whenever I start feeling down about myself, I need to remember that I am perfect, whole, and complete just as I am, which is being myself!