Taken either by Bridget or Kirsten (LOL); Photograph of my friend, Kelly and I.
“Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking.”
-H. Jackson Brown Jr.
Naturally, the first thing that came to mind after reading this quote was: how could this quote apply to my life? What can I get out of it / learn from it? One’s character, I would say, is the variety of qualities or traits that make up who a person is and what guides their actions. I feel lucky enough to be able to be myself around most of my family and a few of my very close friends. I feel like I don’t have to hold anything back. I can be who I am – with all of my quirks and weirdness out on the table. And they still love me for it! In fact, some of them are as strange as me. (Probably why they are my friends to begin with. You know who you are. lol) Anyway, it’s a great place to be in life. A place everyone deserves to be in.
If you aren’t comfortable with who you are and feel as though you have to hold a part of yourself back in front of people, my best suggestion would be to find a new group of people to surround yourself with. You should never never have to be anyone but yourself – no matter who it is. (Now, this doesn’t mean let out a huge burp at a new dinner because it’s ‘a part of you,’ but you know where I’m going with this.) For a long portion of my life, I can honestly admit that I wasn’t comfortable in my own skin. I wasn’t comfortable enough to open up to other people with my true character. I can’t really put my finger on a reason why, but the only thing I can chalk it up to was that I was afraid of being rejected. One day, I reflected on this fear and decided that I couldn’t live my life this way. I couldn’t allow this fear to control me. It certainly wasn’t an 180 turn around once I realized what was holding me back from life, but slowly I started coming out of my shell – taking the risk.
And now, I feel like I have a great group of friends and family that accept me for who I am. It’s a scary transition. Trust me, I know better than anyone. But it’s one that’s definitely worth it. One that I believe you’ll find worth it a million times over than staying in the comfort of your safety zone that you’ve created for yourself. I’m asking you to take that first step out. Take the chance. You should never regret being yourself.
What do you think of this quote? Do you see it in a different way? Shed light on this quote with your thoughts.
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