Be Yourself not Somebody Else – Challenge Day 7
Tracie

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.~ Judy Garland

 

Every day when we wake up, we start our day with a myriad of choices.  What to wear, how to do our hair, what make-up to wear if you’re female, shaving if you’re male, and what to eat for breakfast.  That’s in the first hour of our day.  And we think decisions that we make are all our own.  But they’re not.  You are pressured every hour of every day not to be yourself, but to be like everybody else.  Right now, long straight hair is the fashion for women, so if you look around, most of the women you see will have long straight hair.  Not too long ago, eggs were supposed to be bad for us, so you didn’t see many people eating eggs for breakfast, or any other meal for that matter.

We are pushed, pulled, prodded and molded into being like everybody else.  And while our individuality is being squashed out of us, people say “be yourself.”  I was watching the movie The Devil Wear’s Prada the other night and in the scene where Meryl Streep chastises Anne Hathaway for her attitude about ‘this stuff,’ when I realized that completely and totally illustrates what I’m trying to say.  You are not encouraged to be yourself, instead, some executives sitting in offices decide what is going to be in style for the coming year.

I know growing up, I wanted to be like everybody else so that everybody else would like me.  Guess what, that’s what everybody else was doing.  As it turns out, I was busy wanting to be like everybody who wanted to be like everybody else.  Thankfully today, through the benefits of social media, I’m lucky enough to connect with people I thought I knew in school and getting the opportunity to get to know the real them.

Why would anybody want to be a second-rate carbon copy of somebody else when instead they could be themselves?  I take pride now in being who I am. I don’t make excuses for my differences.  I wear my hair the way I want to, and I dress in what feels comfortable to me.  I participate in activities that interest me, and if they don’t interest anybody else.  I’m happy with who I am, but it took a very long time to get there.  If I could teach people one thing in this world it would be to be yourself, not somebody else.

Thank you for taking part in the positivity challenge.  Don’t forget to let me know what you think in the comments and to share your own positive thoughts as well.