Friday, July 5, 2013

Don't Just Be Yourself, Be Your True Self



There are a lot of things that pisses me off. Heavy traffic is one. As much as I try to ignore being affected, I can't help but give in to the rage. Maybe not really rage but just throwing a curse or two just to get it out of my system. At least I'm the only one that can hear them. But it's still bad. First for my health, and second for my battle for patience and self-control which I'm trying too much to work with. So what can I do? I try to look for answers around me. I hear a lot of advice from people. Some short but big words. YOLO, they say. What's that? I think I'm getting old. But I know what it means now. But how is that a good thing?



We always have these feel-good slogans. Some are as old as our forefathers while some are reinvented and rephrased. Most are used like drug dosages to instantly put the pain away. 

One that we always hear as an advice every time we are in the middle of a big decision-making situation is to "be yourself".  I'm not sure when this saying started. And I can't imagine how much we can be comfortable living our daily lives not being ourselves. 

But I understand how we can be not ourselves during these times. If you haven’t noticed yet, a lot of people are now doing and saying the same things. People watch the same movies, listen to the same songs, go to the same events, parrots the same opinions, etc etc. Even the things people hate are the same. And those who do otherwise are mocked “baduy” as we call them in Filipino. You’re not “in” for these cool groups of people. But then, you will usually hear the “be yourself” motto from the same guys. So, is being ourself now means being dictated what to do by others? Definitely not. So before we talk about being ourselves, there’s something more important than that which a lot of us miss. It is by knowing ourselves first.

It’s simple. You can’t be yourself if you don’t know yourself. And most of the time, it’s yourself who is your own worst enemy. It’s the one who first say you can’t do it. And similarly, you’re the first one to listen and believe it. So there’s the two of you who becomes your own opposition. You can all change this if you know yourself. You will know your strengths and capabilities and how to exploit them. You will be familiar with your weaknesses and how to improve them. By knowing all these things, a better you will suffice. Then you can be yourself.

Just like how much I know how weak I am when it comes to being patient. I am trying to improve on that. I will try harder. Next time, I will. Grrr. I will try harder. Next time.

5 comments:

  1. Wahhh simply lang naman yung be yourself. Na complicate mo ha. Pero may point ka nga. Dapat yung be yourself dapat yung totoong tayu. Di yung compromised na kasi influenced by people around us

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  2. Knowing yourself should not lead you to become selfish and narcissistic. It should lead you to acknowledge and explore who you are, what you're capable of, that you can offer to God and good to your neighbors' being, and making you thankful to Him.

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  3. mahirap talaga hanapin ang sarili lalo na kung sa tingin mo magaling at marunong ang mga nakapaligid sa iyo, tapos ang tingin mo ay heto ka lamang. sa ganang akin, ang pagpapakatotoo sa sarili ay nakabase rin sa kung anong aspeto. paano nga ba i-explain yun? hehehe

    ganito na lang sa fashion, sa principle, sa hope at ambisyon dapat alam mo kung ano yung gusto mo. pero if kailangan mo mag-behave, knowing you are rude most of time , timpi ka rin. kasi napapansin ko naman sa iba , sa sobrang pagpapakatotoo nila sa kabalahuraan ng pag-uugali nila ikinakalat nila ang negative vibes nila.

    hay naku sobrang can relate ako sa commuting. masaya na ako sa isang araw na makaupo ako kaagad at hindi maarte ang katabi ko.

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  4. You don't have to be perfect, just be you! The real people will love the real you :))

    Pero minsan mahirap talagang ilagay ang sarili natin sa kung saan talaga tayo nababagay.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Be Yourself" is a silly advice.

    What if someone approached you and asked you if it would be better for him to be an enginner than airline pilot. If you told him to be "yourself" then you are not actually giving that person a sound advice.

    This is also applicable to many people who are confused about their sex. Many people nowadays tell us to be yourself. Such advice didn't help that confused person. It just made the situation more confusing.

    ReplyDelete

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