Being Your Authentic Self Is Everything

Especially when reconciling who you desire to be.

Photo by Şahin Sezer Dinçer on Unsplash

I tend to be a people pleaser. It’s important to me to be liked, recognized as a good person, respected, and generally accepted.

This is not a problem. That is, until my perception picks up on a lack of being liked, being judged, being disrespected, and thinking I’m being shunned. That can then lead to discomfort, sadness, anger, and all kinds of negative thoughts and feelings.

I have read, heard, and been told by various people with a vast degree of wisdom or not that what other people think of me doesn’t truly matter. Frankly, most of the time, they don’t think of me. At least, not unless we’re in a conversation, or they’re maybe reading my blog or a book. Yet, even then, they probably aren’t giving me much thought at all.

Despite hearing this, reading this, and frankly knowing it, I still get irked/annoyed/self-judgmental/distressed when I think I’m being disregarded.

So the question becomes, what do I do about this? How do I let go of needing to be a people pleaser and work on being my authentic self?

It begins by working with and quieting my harshest, most judgmental critic.

That would be me.

I’m my worst critic