About Being Yourself

Or Why You’ve Rarely EVER Experienced This

Introduction

Yes, in 400 words (or less) I aim to expose to you how living within the confines of fear mean you have little idea of what being yourself actually means. And I’ll start right now: it means being in the present moment, surrendering to it, and allowing yourself to be surprised with what comes next…

About BEING Yourself

Just being yourself, being who you are, is a successful rebellion.
– Author Unknown

It’s Difficult to Explain, But…

Being yourself is one of my most favourite things to talk about, to write about, to notice.

I’ve written many articles on this subject, recorded several videos, and I’m a great example of ‘being my own man’.

And yet this being yourself can be so elusive to explain, to illustrate, to BE, it really can.

I think it is one of the mysteries of life itself, and yet ‘being yourself’ (or not being yourself) goes pretty much unnoticed in daily life.

So how could we notice whether we are being ourselves or not:

• Of course there might be discord in relationships, at times, especially the relationship with yourself
• There might be inner “stresses and strains” that take their toll
• And there are numerous (mostly flawed) books/videos/blogs on how to be yourself too.

But, still, being yourself remains a self-help/dating mantra to repeat or ignore, and nothing more.

So what IS being yourself, and why is it to ‘elusive’?

You Can Only Be Yourself In The Present Moment

Well, the first problem you’re going to encounter when it comes to being yourself – once you’ve dispensed with the prescriptive (and thus unhelpful) ‘be yourself’ advice – is that you don’t actually know who you are.

Repeat. You don’t know who you are.

So, er, how can you be yourself when you don’t know who that is then?

Well… Simply, you let the moment reveal who you are. And you keep on letting the moment, the present moment (the only moment that actually exists), reveal who you are.

That’s how.

The unknown author (above) speaks of rebellion, as in (I’m guessing) a rebellion against how others see us. But, truly, it’s a rebellion against how you see yourself; it’s a rebellion against thinking you know what comes next for you as a human being (you don’t!).

Yes, being yourself is a constant act of rebellion, in each moment: you, in constant motion – a bit like the always-moving water in a river; never still.

Unlike water, which MUST flow as it flows, we can stem our own flow – to the beat of others, or of our self – we can twist ourselves into awkward and unnatatural (psychological) states, we can.

But then there is no successful rebellion; rather we surrender to a controlling, conforming enslavement.

To be yourself is to be free.

To be yourself is to be. (Just be.)

To be… the ultimate rebel.

Being Yourself – 3 Minute Heroes Video

Here’s what came to me as I shared my thoughts on Being Yourself during a 3 Minute Heroes video I recorded in December, 2014: