Funny as it sounds; it is difficult to just be the person you are. Each one of us is unique and has our own idiosyncrasies, talents, strengths and weaknesses. Yet, we lack the ability to recognize all of these in us and accept ourselves just the way we are. We want to be someone else. We keep working on our weaknesses, honing our skills, and seek to be a better (even different?) person, but of what use are these exercises if they are going to erode our core personality and damage our self-esteem?
In life, many of us have role models-someone we want to be like and/or competitors in our chosen fields-who make us go green with envy with their superior techniques and skills, yet are those we want to emulate and even surpass in terms of their accomplishments. Somewhere between wanting to improve and emulate the other person, who might be your peer, friend or competitor, you start comparing self with the other and begin to lose yourself.
What does it, then, take to stretch yourself, your abilities and yet be comfortable in knowing that this is all you can do and accept that the results may not exactly match your expectations? What can do to not let the exercise of improvement reach a point where it not only defeats its very purpose but, oh the horror, leads to the brink when you begin to wallow in self-pity (since you cannot reach the benchmark ) and your general state of mind sinks into lower degrees of satisfaction and happiness?
It is, then, the perfect time to stop and ask if you are enjoying what you are doing. Be it singing, dancing, baking, handling a team for a prestigious project, teaching, writing, blogging, whatever it is that you do for a living or a part-time job or even as a hobby, as long as you take pride in doing them and they bring you joy that is not limited to the one derived by the rewards or awards they might bring, but joy that comes by merely enjoying the act, you succeed. The satisfaction of work has to be a constant even when you're failing in your goals, because if that goes missing then everything else will seem false and temporary.
Again, I'd like to visualize success as something that is certainly more and definitely not restricted to when the world recognizes and applauds your capabilities : a condition where you're happy and content in your own skin, you're proud of yourself no matter what because you'd like to give yourself credit for all the effort you'd taken so far and continue to take, and lastly but not in the least, are generous in forgiving yourself for what you're not and what you did not try in life.
In life, many of us have role models-someone we want to be like and/or competitors in our chosen fields-who make us go green with envy with their superior techniques and skills, yet are those we want to emulate and even surpass in terms of their accomplishments. Somewhere between wanting to improve and emulate the other person, who might be your peer, friend or competitor, you start comparing self with the other and begin to lose yourself.
What does it, then, take to stretch yourself, your abilities and yet be comfortable in knowing that this is all you can do and accept that the results may not exactly match your expectations? What can do to not let the exercise of improvement reach a point where it not only defeats its very purpose but, oh the horror, leads to the brink when you begin to wallow in self-pity (since you cannot reach the benchmark ) and your general state of mind sinks into lower degrees of satisfaction and happiness?
It is, then, the perfect time to stop and ask if you are enjoying what you are doing. Be it singing, dancing, baking, handling a team for a prestigious project, teaching, writing, blogging, whatever it is that you do for a living or a part-time job or even as a hobby, as long as you take pride in doing them and they bring you joy that is not limited to the one derived by the rewards or awards they might bring, but joy that comes by merely enjoying the act, you succeed. The satisfaction of work has to be a constant even when you're failing in your goals, because if that goes missing then everything else will seem false and temporary.
Again, I'd like to visualize success as something that is certainly more and definitely not restricted to when the world recognizes and applauds your capabilities : a condition where you're happy and content in your own skin, you're proud of yourself no matter what because you'd like to give yourself credit for all the effort you'd taken so far and continue to take, and lastly but not in the least, are generous in forgiving yourself for what you're not and what you did not try in life.
