When You Get Sick of Being Who They Think You Are

When You get sick of being who they think you are

There is always the person people think you are, the person you think you should be and the person you currently exist as. It's not often that all three of those images really exist at the same time in life.  In this fast moving world of social media especially, I find it hilarious and sometimes sad how people think they know who I am simply by what I post or don't post. At other times though, what I post is a representative of how I feel.

I've had people who were fans walk up to me as if they'd known me all of their lives because they've been following me on every social media outlet for a while. And then, there are people I've known my entire life who think they know me and still have no idea who I am once I go home. In fact, a few years ago I moved away from the state I grew up in to a quieter place and a nice change of scenery for my kids. Three years later, there are those who treat me as if I stood still in time and haven't changed one little bit. What's scary is that many of them haven't changed at all but I know I've been blessed to have changed and grown so much. One thing about moving away from everything you know is that it will either change you for the better or change you for the worst. I'm so glad it was for the better in my case and now I can see a lot more clearly from the outside looking in what life looked like for me before. Wooh....was that something...umm...I won't get into that!

Today's thoughts though are about who you aspire to be. We go through life on a path that our parents set for us and it's well-intentioned. Sometimes they want such big things for us we feel we can't measure up and other times they are a little more level with their goals and we simply follow the plan and do it their way. Their way, however doesn't always land us in that happy place. We become this person that society thinks we should be. We follow all the guidelines we should follow as this person X we develop into. Secretly, we often have this wish list of what we would really do if we weren't concerned about things like judgement, money, other people's feelings, responsibilities, etc. 

The great thing is that in many cases we can simply be who we aspire to be within reason. The ticket is to let go of our need for judgement from others. Ok, so are you now saying in your head you don't worry about judgement? We all do in some way about something because that is simply human nature. The key is to take that human nature and own the direction of it instead. When the fear of judgement sets in why not say ok "this IS what they'll think, but my happiness is more compelling and once it is seen the judgement won't matter as much?"  Seems easier said than done right? Well in theory it is but how would you know if you've never tried it?

Most of my followers are over 35 and in a place where they are looking for meaning in life. What does your life mean? What does it mean to you? What do you want your legacy to be? These are the questions I leave you with this day as you seek out WHO you are and align it with who you want to be.

Photo: Kevin Huthinson/Flikr

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