I have discovered how true this is: if you choose to be who you really are, you should expect conflict. Why? Because there will always be those “who would rather have us be something else.” (Nepo)
Is this why, then, we live for much of our adult lives quietly hiding who we really are…what we really believe…because we’re afraid of judgment? Rejection? Afraid of being criticized, or terminated?
If you choose to be who you are, you will face conflict because there will always be those who want you to be something entirely different.
So, is this why, we mistakenly believe the illusion we actually avoid conflict by being someone we’re not…by pretending to be someone others want us to be…by saying we believe things we really do not believe?
Do not these flimsy attempts, however, to audition for the approval of others…these exhausting efforts to be who others want us to be, and so avoid conflicts…do not these avoidance techniques of outer conflict succeed only in creating greater inner conflict?
I think so.
Maybe much of the unhappiness people live with today stems precisely from the energy they expend…they waste…trying to hide who they really are…trying to be who they really are not.
Happiness is being on the outside who you are on the inside. When the outer you is in harmony with the inner you…
You have discovered the secret to happiness.
It is amazing how much more simple and powerful my life has become since I ceased production on “The John Show”…some days I feel great, and I don’t try to hide it. Other days, I’m (how should I term it) “low energy”…again, I don’t rip anyone’s head off, I just don’t play the “I’m fine” game when inside I really want to McMurder the McManager at McDonald’s for forgetting my hash browns,,, So, somedays I’m “ok” and other days I’m not “ok”…but that’s “ok”! Which only confirms my status the I.P. (identified patient)! Thanks Dr. Steve…
Thanks for your comments John. Thanks for reading and responding.