Have you ever asked yourself – “Who is my true self?” It’s a mysterious question because some of us have no idea who we are really are.
I was at a conference and one of our speakers was Nia Peeples. She’s an actress best known for her part as “Nicole” in the TV series “Fame.” Nia talked about the process she’s been going through to re-brand herself. Throughout her acting career, she’d been cast in roles by movie studios and agencies in the way they perceived her. As she grew older and the dynamics of her career changed, she found she had to ask herself. . .
. . . Who am I really?
It took years and several coaching sessions before she had an inkling of her true essence.
This made me think . . .
Do you know your true self?
As women, we spend so much time pleasing and taking care of others that it’s easy to lose our sense of self especially as we age. Our lives evolve in response to what’s happened to us in our lives and we bend and mold ourselves to adjust to our situation. Suddenly, we become a person we don’t entirely recognize.
We have to ask ourselves, “When am I truly the happiest? What makes me feel elated and satisfied?
When I first started blogging, it took me a while to find my groove and speak from my heart. In fact, I’m still working on it.
But isn’t that what life is all about? It’s a series of changes, re-inventions, and evolvement?
Each of us is a “brand” that makes us unique from everyone else. If you allow your true self to be revealed, those who resonate with you will eventually show up to cheer you on. They always do. The trick is to find a way to unmask that hidden self because it’s been smothered under layers and years of life experiences and traumas.
Have you ever felt your “real YOU” has been locked away and is waiting to come to the surface?
Are you living as your own incomparable YOU? Or have you been molding yourself to be the perfect wife, mother, business owner, girlfriend, pal, or role model to fit in and please those around you? It’s worth a thought or two.
Take a little time for yourself and write down details of who you are compared to how others perceive you. You may be surprised to find your true self is lying dormant and struggling to reveal itself. Take everyone else out of the equation for a moment and focus on the real YOU. Do you like yourself? Are you happy? What do you need to change to be more true to yourself? I will guarantee it will be enlightening. Let me know what you come up with.
There’s always a person, usually on Facebook, who comes across as the happiest person on earth. They have a perfect life, perfect kids, a perfect relationship but are secretly depressed. There’s a wacky person inside them screaming to be recognized. They’ve spent all their time working to make everything around them perfect and lost themselves in the process.
Do you know your true self? Please leave a comment below and share your thoughts.
Boy you hit the nail on the head with this one! It’s like you have been eavesdropping inside my head. Definitely something to think about!
Awesome Rena, I’m glad I made an impact. Yes, it was enlightening for me as well. We really have to dig deep and discover our true essence. Let’s work on it!
What a great post – it is certainly something I need to take some time to think about – I’ve just quit my job after a long time of sucking it up and getting on with it. Now I just have to figure out who I am and where I want to go from here – thanks for the helpful suggestions.
Thanks Leanne, I’m so glad I could inspire you to look inside yourself. The wonderful thing is that we all have so many possibilities and they can be wonderful if we let them happen. I know you’ll find the right path for you.
Great article. Sometimes I think the image I have to hit the ‘up date’ button because the image of myself is years old. For me life has been a series of recreations and a new phase is taking place in my life…just when I thought I could sit back and relax. Thanks for the read.
Thanks so much Judy. I like your idea of an “update button.” It’s so true. Every once in a while we have to re-access who we are. I did a stream of consciousness writing words as they came into my mind describing who I am. Many of the words were positive and some were not but it was all true. It’s an interesting experiment.
Hi Rebecca! What a wonderfully thoughtful post. Asking who are you really is definitely one of the most important things we can ask ourselves and needs to be asked over and over and over as time goes by. And I so agree that life is “a series of changes, re-inventions and evolvement”. So if everything is changing, us included, who we are changes as well. I wouldn’t have it any other way would you?
With that said, how was the rest of the “boot camp”? I know of several others who were there but haven’t heard. I hope it gave you some new ideas AND helped to rein spire you as well. For all of us who’ve been blogging for a while it is so important for us to stay inspired. It sounds like you’ve found it! ~Kathy
Thanks so much Kathy,
I love that we can change and re-invent ourselves anytime we want. We have the power. The bootcamp was great. I really enjoyed it. I learned some new things and met wonderful women, which is always one of the best parts since we bloggers can tend to be isolated working on our computers. Temecula was a fun area to explore as well.
This is an awesome post! I totally agree with you. After the kids were born, I threw myself into the mommy role. I have to admit that at the age of 50, I found myself struggling to figure out who I am if not a full time mommy anymore. The fun is in the re-inventing and re-branding of oneself. It makes you look deep inside yourself. Thank you so much for linking up to #MidLifeLuv. I will be reading more of your posts!
Thanks so much Elena. One thing we go through at our age are major changes in our lives and it’s worth re-evaluating ourselves. I love that we have the freedom to re-invent and re-brand. And we have so much power when we release ourselves from victim hood. Thanks also for putting together the linky party. How fun!
I’ve found that I’ve spent much of the last 15 years growing more into myself. It’s been a fun journey as I continue to add things to my life that I love. My life and how I spend my time is so different from my twenties and thirties, all in a good way! Thank you Rebecca for joining us at the MidLifeLuv Link-Up — we’re happy to have you!Kimberly
My life in my twenties and thirties was a complete 180 from what it is now. It’s great to discover new passions and move in different directions. Thanks so much for putting together the MidLifeLuv Link Up. It’s great to be a part of it.
I’m not sure I will ever stop changing. I love the freedom at this age to be and choose to be, who I want. Now just who that is? I’m still working on it! Those perfect people with perfect live have struggles too. They just don’t share it. Each to his own. I think we grow by sharing. Loved this post!
Thanks so much Jennifer,
I love the freedom to change as well. Some people are so resistant to any sort of change in their life but I welcome it. We are each a constantly evolving work of art. Many times the struggles are actually opportunities to better ourselves.
We need to stop and think about ourselves sometimes. Although we are each unique, we are like grains of sand on the beach of life–all part of the human race. I’m writing my memoirs at the moment and remembering how many amazing adventures and experiences I’ve had.
Hi Francene,
Good point. We are all part of the collective consciousness. But if you as a person are able to empower yourself to be able to help others or make a difference in some way our “I” expands to “we.”
Rebecca
This article resonates with me so much. I’ve gone through periods where I have functioned on automatic pilot for months – even years – at a time just getting on with stuff to the point where I’m invisible as me.
I love your blog and will keep checking back x
Thanks Fran,
I hear you and am glad it hit a nerve.. It’s so easy to find yourself in a somewhat “safe place” doing things you that don’t feed your soul and then it’s not always easy to come out of it and truly live.
Rebecca