Being Yourself

Because sometimes you have to step outside the person you've been, and remember the person you are meant to be. The person you wanted to be. The person you are.

As One Tree Hill comes to an end I decided to revisit some of the quotes and voiceovers it had. For some reason many of them have had a profound impact on me and many still continue to make me realize what my heart wants me to believe. Maybe it is because I was 15 when I first started seeing the series or maybe it is because like to find meanings in words but there is something about the above quote that always gets to me, making me realize that the façade most of us wear every single day, the words we speak, the analyzing we do, the way we behave mean very little in the longer scheme of things. Because what really matters, in my opinion, is the bigger picture, the doing good to others and believing that good will come back to you, in following your heart and convincing your head that it is the way to go, in realizing that no one knows you better than yourself and what the world says is merely their version of what they want to see you as.

Maybe I am an idealist, maybe I am someone who still believes in the happily ever after, maybe I always think there is a silver lining at the end of the dark clouds but the thing I can say for sure is that nothing has given me more happiness and contentment than the days and the moments I am true to myself. The world is out there to convince us we are wrong, that we are not good enough, that we deserve to be miserable because that is what the way of life is and then there are some people who influence us, who give us confidence in our capabilities, who accept our vision and help us surge ahead. Finding the difference between these two types – the world at large and the ones who let us be us – is something only very few of us are fortunate to accomplish in our entire lifetime.

Which brings me to essence of the thought, is it really that hard to be ourselves? Is it really that difficult to accept our deepest darkest desires and work towards it? Are our dreams really that unachievable that instead of putting all our faith and belief into them we dissect them, belittle them? Is it really unacceptable to simply accept yourself? Even the mere fleeting thought of giving reality to our dreams and hopes and beliefs scares us. But how many of us have truly experienced at least one moment in our lives when we are simply our own person, without pretense, lies, confusion, disbelief and every other emotion we experience day in and day out and not felt euphoric and exhilarated in that moment? Then why are we so afraid of feeling that euphoria, that exhilaration, that contentment more often? Why are we not the person we want to be, the person we really are more often?

I have a lot of unanswered questions and it is in these questions I attempt to find a little more of who I truly am, to get the courage to embrace myself and to unapologetic about it. Someday I hope to resonate the quote as the truth of my life.