Relax and Be You

Are you the type of person who tends to do things to please other people? Or the type of person who is not happy unless others like you? Well, I have good news and bad news for you. The bad news is if you continue this way, you will be causing yourself and under amount of stress that can certainly be avoided. The good news is if you be yourself the people who are meant to be in your life for the long haul will be there and you won’t have to constantly compromise for them to like you.

While it is human nature to desire the companionship of others, you do not have to compromise who you are in order to accomplish this. God created us as individuals for a purpose. If we were all the same, what good would that do? How much fun would that be? Imagine if everyone looked just alike, believed all the same things, liked all of the same things and acted just alike. What a bland and unbalanced world we’d live in – no flavor at all. Different races, cultures, talents, skills and opinions are what give us diversity. Everyone may not like you but who cares?

Studies show that no matter what you do 10% of all people you come in contact with won’t like you anyway. That’s their problem. If that’s the statistic then why bother trying to please everyone and put yourself in bondage to other people? Do you like yourself? If you don’t, I respectfully recommend you learn how. Reflect on all of the things you are good at. Take a month or so to write down every compliment you may receive from someone else. It doesn’t have to be a big compliment. It can be as small as, “Hey, I like your shirt.” A comment reflects that you have good taste in clothing! You will more than likely find that you like “you” after all. At the very least, you may discover some pretty neat things about yourself.

Don’t stress yourself worrying about what others think about you. Just be yourself. Of course, in being yourself you don’t want to cultivate a spirit of selfishness  What you are working towards is loving yourself enough to place boundaries in your life so that others don’t take advantage of you. If you are a giving person, continue to be that way, just don’t give so much of yourself that there’s nothing left for you.