5 Really Good Reasons To Be Yourself

This topic has been in construction for a while now. I've really been thinking about the concept of being yourself. We have all heard the concept of being yourself. We are told to 'just be who you are ' as if it is something casual, and easy. But what should that really mean? It is a pretty broad statement, and for most of us it can be a struggle. We might struggle being our true selves out of fear, or insecurity for acceptance from others.

Okay, but let's think about it for a second. Why should we be ourselves. And why is that even important? The past few months I have really taken some time to reflect and have a few truths that stuck out to me. 

There is so many reasons to be comfortable and confident in who you are. But here are just a few, really good reasons. 

1. We should be strong with who God made us to be. 

You were made the way you were for a reason. Deep down, there are things about that truly make us who we are, and make us worth knowing. Sometimes we don't even know what those things are. Not in all cases, but in most, they are the things we are insecure about. But do you ever notice, these are the things people tend to love about you? Think about it for a second.

This might be your wit. Your nerdy obsession with random things, words or people. Your love for complex puzzles or your ability to simplify them. The way you can naturally make people around you feel comfortable. Your ability to listen. Your ability to lead. Or down to the smallest of things. Your laugh. Your sense of humor, quick wit. Or loveable 'obliviousness.' (bless those of us who inherit this quality lol) But these are the things that set us apart. The things that make us interesting. We can be insecure about the things, people end up liking the most about us. Because they are liking and relating to the real parts of you. 

2. The things we usually want to hide, are the things people actually love about us.

The things we struggle sharing with others, can be the things that make them able to understand us better. I'm talking about your personality. Your natural strengths, and the things that drive you to become a better person. If you are naturally goofy, be goofy! If you are naturally calm and collected, learn to appreciate and let those parts of you. If you are really enthusiastic and love to motivate or lead people, embrace it. Learn how you can cultivate those qualities and use them to help those around you. We balance out each other out when we know who we are and what we can offer. So don't be afraid of what sets you apart. What makes you different, might be the one thing that someone else needs more of in their life. Just because someone might not appreciate a part of you, doesn't mean it is not a valuable quality. You might just be around the wrong person to share that quality with.

If you have a gift for something, trust me, it can be used out there! It is needed. Don't discount it. You were made the way you were for a reason. The thing you are going to be best at- is you. You don't have to pretend when it comes to being yourself. You can be real, it's okay.

3. Realness is a rarity these days.  

It is. Realness, is what people search for in other people. They do this subconsciously to find any sort of relatability. What they look for, in new friends. In relationships. In music. In art. In everything, we look for some sort of relatability. Once found, we cling to it. 

To be quite honest, the world is full of fake lives and fake people. What is needed is a little more realness.

4. You can connect and build meaningful relationships with others on a deeper level. 

When you are yourself, and people can truly relate and connect with you on a real level - that is the deepest and most meaningful connection, and it far surpasses all fake connections you've crafted. So just be who God created you to be. It's not worth being someone else. You end up attracting to wrong people, and give others a misunderstanding of who who actually are. 

Talk about the worst thing in the world, being rejected or disliked for who you never were in the first place. 

Listen. If you are going to be disliked it might as well be for who you are, and what you wouldn't want to change about yourself. The people who love you and want to build up the good parts of you will really shine through, and you can then know, who is worth keeping close in your life. And if they don't want to build you up, by goodness- let them go. You're saving yourself future trouble, and saving them too.

It is okay. We can graciously let people leave. Period. Not everyone is meant to stay close. People need to have more grace for each other in general, but especially in this. 

There is nothing more important to learn, than the art of kindness and self assurance in dealing with the stuff in life, that hurts us. 

That right there, takes an incredible amount of strength and self respect for yourself, and for others. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle pain. By the way they chose to respond to circumstances they cannot control -and what they decide to do about it. 

Inner courage and strength to be kind can be found if we dig deep enough. Trust me, it's there. And it's worth digging for to handle situations like this. While it might not be the easiest, these are the moments in life that help you grow into a better person, and strengthen your capacity to handle tough stuff. *spoiler, life is full of it. 

 "It's okay if it hurts. It means you were sincere." -Ay. En. 

But when you truly connect with someone, and they are able to appreciate the most real parts of you-that connection is so much deeper and more meaningful than any other. 

It is such a huge compliment when another person likes the real parts of you. When someone sincerely appreciates the honest you, the vulnerable you, or who gets your humor -those relationships last way longer and are much deeper, than any other ones that are build on anything less. 

5. Being Yourself Builds Inner Confidence

To be yourself, takes vulnerability. But the more you practice it, the more you honor your gifts and are gracious to others who are learning alongside you, the more confident you will become. The feeling you get after you make a decision or achieve something based on clear understanding of who you are -that is a feeling of such confidence. Because it just validated who you are, and that whatever it was, it was worth standing up for.  

It is amazing what will suddenly become clear on what matters in life, and what doesn't. When we know who we are, and who we belong to. 

You can read more about my post where our confidence comes from, and how to be more confident. How To Be More Confident ft. PushPressPrincess 

I know I've been pretty quiet on here for a while. Bear with me while I sort some things out in life. Lol. I hope you know that when I write about these topics, they are (most often) ones I struggle with all the same. I write to help myself too. We are all a work in progress.

I miss writing and picking a part topics like this one, so keep your eye out for more posts in the upcoming months. You can follow me on Instagram to stay updated. @liketora

love, 

toria.