I’ve decided to start being myself.

Every day that I’m not myself, I lose more of who I’m supposed to be.

I’ve spent a lot of my life thinking and deciding who I am without just letting myself be whoever I end up being. Why do I do it? I suppose the same reason everyone does: We want to be what people accept. We want to be accepted because that means we’ll get ahead, that we’ll get what we want, and that it just makes us feel good to be wanted.

I think I’ve spent enough time trying to be something I thought I should be. I’ve spent enough time getting lost into this persona that I’ve created and then wondering why I wasn’t happy being there. The weird part is I think everybody knows we’re not made to try to be something we’re not…but everybody still wants to be something else.

Have you noticed that people that are actually happy, without faking it, are the ones who are completely comfortable in who they are?

We all know people that just seem incredibly happy with their lives, no matter if they’re going well or not. People that are just happy to be in their lives, like they realize it’s a gift to be them. It’s hard to really understand why if you’ve never been there. We live in a time when being comfortable with who you are is the exception.

Every day I wake up, I walk the dog, I sit down and start working, and I become a person that I think will excel at my job. I’m myself, too, but I’m not always the person I know I am. Sometimes I don’t even know what’s different…I just know it’s not me.

So this is my goal: I’m going to be me. I’m going to try to be comfortable with who I am, even if I’m not sure that’s what people want. I’m going to try to be comfortable with who I am, even if I’m not sure if it’ll help me get ahead. I’m going to try to be comfortable with who I am because no matter what happens that’s the best way for me to be happy.

Maybe that’s something we can all try to be.