"If they don't like you for being yourself, be yourself even more."
We play many roles in life as we weave throughout our day. We can go from being a parent to a coworker to a student all in the span of a few hours. Each role requires a different set of responsibilities and commitments. We may also act differently in the separate roles that we play, depending on the environment. The more comfortable we feel in an environment, the more likely we are to "be ourselves." By being ourselves, we refrain from having to act a certain way around certain people.
I do not like having to be fake or put up some false front by portraying a role that does not feel authentic to me. I understand there are certain situations where diplomacy and tact are necessary. At the same time, I also have trouble hiding my true feelings about situations or circumstances that do not sit well with me. I am comfortable speaking my mind. Even in my previous positions, I never felt uncomfortable telling my superiors or co-workers how I feel about something. They may have not liked what I said, but they respected me for letting my thoughts and feelings be known, for the most part. 😁
Even in my personal life, my friends and family know where I stand when dealing with stuff that pops up. I don't hide my feelings. I don't sugar coat or beat around the bush. I stand by my values and the courage of my convictions. Just like at work, my family and friends respect my choices and actions, but they don't always agree. I'm ok with that. I'm not trying to win over anyone's favor as much as I am helping them to understand where I'm coming from in the matter. It's much easier to be myself around my family and friends than in a work setting since they know me better than my colleagues.
I like being able to be myself and speak my mind. Sometimes we are forced to hide our true feelings or spare someone else's by watering down our response to them and not being truthful. I would rather be truthful than misleading. If we sacrifice our own values to please other people, we may find ourselves feeling unsatisfied or misunderstood. That's not being fair to ourselves. If we don't stand by our values and say what we mean, we are invalidating our own self-worth. We owe it to ourselves to be the true and authentic self we grow into so we can become our best self.
More Wellness!
