Being you.

Being you.

One of the many lessons that I’ve learnt in the short life of mine is that you live your best life when you live it as you. 

You.

After an experiment was conducted with children and adults, asking them to answer only one question: “What is it that you would want to change about yourself?”, the adults answered with a variety of statements. Majority of them being materialistic or related to an aspect of their physical appearance, facial beauty and surfaced characteristics. The children, however, were mostly lost. Took way more time than the adolescents and yet prominently replied with abstract concepts like “I would like to run faster”, “I want to learn to colour within the lines”, “I want magical powers” or “nothing”.

As an adult, as a responsible one, our social acquaintances expect us to act, react, talk, walk, sit and fit into the general mould in a certain way. A blame I won’t put on them, for poor souls, they themselves are ruled by those very norms and expectations. Each individual, coming across more and more experiences in life, merges into somebody no one can define exclusively.

Simple practices of a kid, like talking freely, start getting to be taken as a sign of being naïve and innocence as they age.  The person starts being told what is right and what is not, not only verbally but also through actions of other people, companions or not. Through behaviours- forms of rewards and guilt, telling him or her what pleases the people, in turn keeping themselves in a safe, not-a-sad place. Reactions of others to their decisions, influencing and reducing bit by bit their capacity to do it all according to themselves.

So, when you are asked, “what would you want to change about yourself?” you actually do not think of what ‘you’ want but really what ‘they’ do.

Whether you are a young adolescent like myself, a middle aged or an old aged, you have either already realized this, are realizing it or yet to, that being yourself is the best way to face it. Face everything. For if you are yourself to the core, it would be due to your absolute choice, and hence a confident choice. One that wouldn’t crack by the fragile shots of judgements and hypocrisy.