I just finished reading/skimming “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin. It was pretty good but I skimmed a lot of it. Basically she comes up with resolutions for each month that she thinks will make her happier. One of her “rules” is to “Be Gretchen”. For example, she thinks she should like classic literature but she loves children’s novels and Stephen King. Her rule was to just be herself.
As most of my regular readers know, I have been working on this very thing. Being happy with who am I instead of who I think I should be.
It’s not easy though, is it?
For whatever reason, I think it’s really difficult to just be…yourself. I love Harry Potter and Twilight and Hunger Games; I haven’t ever read Little Women and have no desire to. I love stupid Jim Carrey and Steve Carrell movies but can’t stand musicals. I love pizza with everything on it. Justin Bieber music makes me happy along with Eminem and Beyonce and Adele and The Black-Eyed Peas. I love my Mom. I don’t like to talk crap about my husband like many wives do. I enjoy a glass of wine almost every night if I can. Ice cream and cheesecake do me in. I drink caffeine. I adore being a Mom. Sometimes my kids drive me so crazy I want to hide. I love my short hair and doubt I will ever go back to long hair. I hate high heels but love my Converse. My house is sometimes messy and dirty. All of these things might not be what I “should” like or do but it is me.
I just loved that simple statement of “Be Tiffany” and I’m going to start reminding myself to just be me. My most favorite people in the world are just that…authentic. Why shouldn’t I emulate that? I’m starting now.
How about you?
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It’s hard to be me…I wanna be Kim Kardashian! LOL. She’s got everything. Everything except my family though, and I’m happy with that! Having her body wouldn’t be so bad though wouldn’t it?
i have a hard time with this too…..but you are right. we mostly tend to look up to people who are just real. we should all just embrace who we are and stop trying so hard to be someone else….because, girl, we are AWESOME! 🙂
Thanks for the reminder Tiff. Sounds like we are not the only ones who struggle with this. I’ve been having a “poor me” month and this will help me shake it. Stop wishing for what I don’t have and just enjoy what I do. I like the idea of just “being Christine” and being happy with that. It sounds so simple….maybe I’ll give it a try.
I hear ya! Hard to actually be yorself in this world…so many assumed perceptions of how people see us and how we want to be seen. I’m tired of it too! I think I’m pretty true to being me, but at times I sit back and say “why did I do that? Thats not me!” but I did it because I wanted to be seen as a certian type of person. If we keep doing THAT, we get lost in worrying about what others think, and loose who we are. I think most people don’t give a crap about half the stuff we worry about anyway, so in the long run we are worrying about nothing…and that is such a waste of time.
So …here’s to the strength to be YOU, being true to YOU and having great friends who accept the real YOU!
I’m going to try and do this, too. Thanks for the post. It has taken me many, many years to accept my introverted personality. I would love for my 8 year old to do this without the struggle and pain that I went through. There is so much more to me than being an introvert, though. And I need to really think about being Marie.
I love it! I need to just be Brandy. I am always so hard on myself about my house not being clean all the time. Really though, I have 2 kids at home with me all day every day while I’m working 8+ hours on the computer, so can I seriously expect my house to be clean EVERY DAY?? I’m so glad you keep it real and tell it how it is, it helps me to know that I am not alone in the world of a sometimes messy house, it’s never too “dirty” or messy that I can’t clean it up quickly before people come over, however, if they come over without calling first, it will probably be a mess! Another great post Tiffany!
I love your short hair, too! There is a commercial on TV, I have no idea what it’s for, every time I see it I think of you because there is an adorable woman that resembles you with your haircut on it.
You be you and I’ll be me. We can’t go wrong.
That is great!!! I like it, and I think all the things you like are great too! Keep being who you are!
I keep saying that anyone who is confident enough to wear short hair and look so darned good has no self-esteem issues! You already are JUST TIFFANY! (and we love it!)
I’m a little too much with the “JUST CRYSTAL” thing…I say things without thinking and cross social conversation lines at times not realizing it. But I guess at the tender age of “almost” 40, my genuine friends will and should give me that look and chalk it up to “thats just crystal” right?! And of course call me out on it! LOL
I love the you that you are! Don’t ever change it – unless you think it’s the right thing to do 😉
I love playing in dirt, planting flowers and digging up worms. I love to read by the campfire – not trashy novels but Harry Potter, Twilight, Stephen King, Percy Jackson, Anne Rice. I adore ice cream of almost any variety and eat it much more often than I should, but I don’t care! I hate, hate, hate shoes and would rather live in a world where they are banned.
I’m happy to BE HEATHER but do have to work at maintaining just me status! Glad to hear you’re getting better at being you 🙂
There is a certain freedom in embracing who you are, however you are. Great reminder Tiffany.
We sure are on the same page!