Growing up I always remember my parents telling me to “Be yourself.” Even to this day that motto acts as the strong backbone of what my parents believe to be one of the best pieces of advice to live your life by. I believe it to be too.
When I was teenager I didn’t think so as much, mostly because every time I left the house to go out for the night, the saying “Remember to be yourself” was combined with a kiss on the cheek to reinforce the old adage recited countless times over.
Maybe I was too young then to realize that for just two simple words, they contain a great deal of impact when thought about on an every-day basis.
Be yourself encompasses more than its initial interpretation. Be yourself is in alignment with truth; it means to act, speak, and be truthful in all circumstances regardless of what others think; even what your own ego thinks.
Living truth every day of our lives is something to consciously and consistently work toward. How many days can we say we spent the entire day being in truth not only to others but to ourselves?
Don Miguel Ruiz wrote an amazing and insightful book called The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom. He explains how the majority of our lives are spent speaking, acting, and living belief systems that really aren’t our own, but are of other people.
Whether that be our parents, siblings, or friends, he poses the very important question of whether you are living your own belief systems and he challenges you to ask yourself what those beliefs systems are.
The Four Agreements consist of:
1) Be impeccable with your word.
2) Don’t take anything personally.
3) Don’t make assumptions.
4) Always do your best.
Sometimes it seems easier to live outside of those principles, because the truth of the matter is that the majority of us were conditioned in a different way. It is easier to fall into gossip, to take things personally, to presume things of others, and to doubt ourselves; it’s easier because for most of our lives we gave into those behaviors without a second thought.
The beautiful thing about life and having a human experience though is that we always have a choice within every single moment to choose how we think and feel about things. The best choice we can make for ourselves is to choose in this very moment to live with authenticity for ourselves and all that we do and to share that genuineness with others.
