[ValleyWalker]

About a month ago, I listened to a guy speaking and was envious of his personality. And then I realized that the personality that he had was MY natural personality when I am mentally healthy.
After many years of pulling away from myself, finding myself thinking this way was extremely refreshing and exactly what I needed.

I'm also really noticing when a person has become a total product of something other than themself. Like created upon feelings of inadequacy, anger, the commercial world, etc

So my question is, how do you stay on track with who you are?
I'm still attributing certain things to myself which I shouldn't be, and sometimes act in ways that cause me to feel uncomfortable since they are not my nature.

How do you protect the treasure that is your true self?

 

[Razare]

It takes courage to manifest your true self.

Not the sort of courage it takes to run into a burning building and save someone.

It's a subtler courage that occurs on a daily basis. The enemy is an invisible barrier created in our heads. It's the product of being raised in a society with rules and restrictions. I'm not talking about laws police will arrest you for, but social customs, inclinations, and behaviors that we picked up in childhood. At some point, when we were kids, we decided, "I shouldn't do that. I should do this, instead." "I am not this, I am that."

The problem is we might allow these rules to impose themselves upon our core personality. I should also point out that these rules are not universal, but unique things created by each individual as they experience life. So when I refer to them as societies rules, they're not broadly defined by society, but rather defined by us as how we perceive society around us as being.

We think, "Society wants me to behave like this..." whether that's actually true or not doesn't matter because we've created the rule in our head.

Which of these rules are bad and which are good?

Innately within me is the propensity to hug women who are crying. This is who I am. Yet what if that's inappropriate? You see, some of these rules are good to follow and some aren't. Telling which is which is difficult... and then deciding to break one of these rules takes courage. It's like stepping out onto thin-ice and you have no idea if it's going to break beneath your feet or hold.

 

[saibot]

Totally agre with Razare.

And I just have to posts this, although I am not sure how many are going to get the reference:

 

[Killbain]

Ah! But do you know for sure what your true self is?

Is it the child with the play, no sense of danger or guilt. The adolescent with curiosities and unseen fears? The adult becoming judged and judgemental?

Your true self isn't someone else, however charismatic or centred that person appears to be. Even the most confident of us have secret fears, longings, vices and frustrations. We are all forced to act in certain ways by peer presssure, societal norms, moral, religious and legislative codes. - only by actually knowing your true self and when it's safe to let it out of the box can we protect our true selves.

 

[Razare]

Totally agre with Razare.

And I just have to posts this, although I am not sure how many are going to get the reference:

Never had play station consoles, so i don't get the reference, but that music is epic.