There’s a lot of things we would like to express to the world about ourselves, and at times it might feel like nobody cares, or it might feel like we’ll be judged for being our true selves, so we decide not to do so. Keeping the world unaware of who we truly are might provide comfort in the moment, since we don’t have to face whatever hostility or ridicule might come to us if we dared to show the world our authentic selves, but in the end this will only damage us, and it’ll prevent us from fulfilling our goals in life. We can’t truly connect with others if we don’t show them who we truly are, and even though we might end up meeting a lot of people, even having a lot of friends or acquaintances, deep inside we’ll always know that we haven’t made any deep, meaningful connections with anyone. At this point, as we feel the weight of loneliness on our shoulders, as we grow old and time goes by, we might feel like we don’t have a chance of forming any true connections any more, and we might start acting up in order to get attention from others. In the modern age of social media this is a huge problem. A lot of people might not even have a real connection with themselves, let alone anyone else, because they have been travelling a path of imitation, wanting to be the next big celebrity, for example. Their whole style is copied, the way they talk and act, even their opinions on important matters, are all copied, knowingly or unknowingly, from their favorite celebrities. Kids with low self-esteem are constantly bombarded with images of the perfect lifestyle, a life of luxury and constant thrills, and they decide that they want to live that type of life also. These kids barely know themselves most of the time, and since they lack proper guidance they don’t even have a chance to discover who they are, their true passions and skills, what really makes them happy in life. When I say happy I’m talking about true satisfaction, being at peace with oneself, not about chasing one thrill after the next in order to never experience boredom, in order to never spend time reflecting on life, learning from our past and planning out our future. The idea of living fast and dying young is appealing to a lot of kids who want to convince themselves that they’re fearless, that living in the moment means doing whatever is the most fun, or whatever will impress others the most, without thinking of future consequences. Too many people are also infatuated with money and are willing to do anything to get it, even if it means putting their dignity on the line or leaving their values behind and engaging in unethical behavior. In these peoples’ minds, having money will bring them happiness by allowing them to purchase anything they want at any time, to live a luxurious life with minimal responsibilities and the most fun possible. What they don’t think about is that, once they do have the money they dream of, they still won’t find true happiness. They might not care because they can keep themselves busy with pleasure, one expensive form of pleasure after another. They might go through their whole lives without ever even bothering to try to search for something deeper because pleasure might be enough for them, since they drown their true feelings out with drugs or sex. People need to realize their true worth. We’ve all faced our own hardships in life, we all come from different backgrounds and we all see things in unique ways. We never know when we could inspire someone just by being honest about our own life experiences, about our own opinions and innermost thoughts and feelings. Too many people are trying to fit in, not realizing that they’re throwing out all the hidden treasures within them, and all for what? Just to fit in with a bunch of other insecure people who are only trying to follow what’s “cool”? If you’re afraid of showing your true self to someone for fear that they might reject you, then think about why you would even want to be accepted by this type of person in the first place? They don’t actually like who you are, just the fabricated image of yourself that you try to pass off as the real you. I believe that we could advance more as a species if more people were willing to be themselves, to stand their ground regardless of whatever might be cool, or even whatever might be legal. Legality does not equal morality. People need to think for themselves, to analyze and understand themselves, then to share that understanding with others so that we may learn from each other and grow together. I know we are all flawed and none of us are perfect human beings, but it is precisely this understanding that should motivate us to be unapologetically ourselves. Who are other people to judge us? We were all born here and exist for reasons we don’t completely understand. Other people may offer advice, but we are free to accept such advice or reject it. We shouldn’t fear advice or criticism, we shouldn’t take it as an attack on our opinions. This comes from a place of insecurity. Unfortunately, too many people with worthwhile ideas second-guess themselves, doubt themselves, and never end up sharing any of those ideas, they stay limited to their own minds. On the other hand, there’s so many people who are simply following the crowd, and for this reason they are confident that they’ll be accepted. After all, they’re only following a proven model for success. It’s much easier to go along with whatever ideas the majority of people have in your day and age, than to find the courage to stand for yourself and to say exactly what you feel should be said. Being real might isolate us, but at least we’ll know where we stand, and we won’t feel disappointed in ourselves. On the other hand, if we simply settle for going with the flow because we are insecure and in need of attention, we might indeed gain the approval and praise of the world, but we’ll always know true loneliness, and resentment will grow within us, because we’ll know that we be rejected if we dared to be ourselves. People might scream our name, but they will never know who we truly are, and therefore we will be like ghosts, unknown to the world and probably even to ourselves, always trapped within a caricature we’ve created.
much love
~ rebel eye
rebel eye 