Do I Really Know Me?

Who would you be without your accomplishments or failures, your education or lack of, your bank accounts, your experiences, your title, your home, your status? As simple a concept as this is to think about and discuss, at least on the surface, it's actually quite difficult for most of us to genuinely separate who we are from what we do or have done or not done.

The deeper question i think to ponder here is really one of the big philosophical questions of life, What makes you a valuable person? While this is something I believe, everyone has thought about to some degree, most people don't really dig and look deep into themselves on a regular basis. And, when you do, you often think that if you just got more done, lost some weight, made more money, took a vacation, accomplished a goal, had more meaningful work, made it to retirement or whatever, then you'd be happier or feel more valuable. Sadly, this is not usually the case and is why most of ones goals and asperations for a given year don't really happen or last.
What if, in addition to having resolutions, you could expand your capacity for appreciating yourself for who you really are in a genuine way, having nothing to do with your external self? What if just being yourself, the way you are right now, is good enough?
Being yourself takes courage, commitment and faith. It's a process of letting go of many false beliefs you've picked up from the collective opinions around you: that you have to look good, be smart, know the right people, say the right things, have the proper experience, in order to be happy and successful in life. Being yourself can be scary , difficult and even at times, lonely - talk about stress!. However, being the real you should be quite liberating, exciting and fulfilling. When you have the courage to just be who you are, without apology or pretense, so much of the suffering, stress and worry in life simply disappears.
Tell the truth to yourself. Think about how much of your self-worth is based on what you do, how you look, who you know, what you've accomplished. You see, I have come to understand that the more you can let go of being defined by outward things, the more freedom, peace and self comfidence you can experience. And, as you really get honest with yourself, you may realize that outside of these external things, you don't really know who you are. As scary as this may seem on the surface, it's actually great news and can give you access to a deeper and more meaningful experience of who you are.

All I can say is, appreciate who you really are. The more you're able to hook into what you appreciate about who you are and not what you do, the more strength you will have to enjoy real confidence, peace and self-love.

Practice just being you. As silly as it may sound, I believe we all have had a great deal of experience being phony or being how you think you're supposed to be. It actually takes conscious practice to be able to just show up and be who you are. This is all about awareness and paying attention to how you feel, what you're thinking, what you say and how you show up. It's not about getting it right or doing anything specific.  It's about letting go of our crazy notions of how you think you're supposed to be and just allowing yourself to be who you are in the moment. Just be yourself because when you stand and look into a mirror, the only person looking back at you is you and no one knows you better than you do!