You Are Allowed To Be Your Most Authentic Self

The truth is, most of us are afraid to be ourselves. Every day, we live this life by being someone who appears to have figured it all out. We pretend that our lives are perfectly intact without the presence of any brokenness. We follow the mainstream, we sign up for a prestigious career whether we like it or not, we hide our vulnerability and mask it with well-curated Instagram feeds, and we say yes to everything that society approves as the definition of being ‘successful’.

Since we were in school, we were accustomed to molding ourselves into someone who would comply with the rules and earned the label of being a ‘good boy‘ or a ‘good girl’. We spend our lives pleasing our parents, family, friends, or those who are close to us by hiding our true selves and pretending that we’re alright all the time. Thus, we forget that we have someone whose happiness and approval matters the most above all else: ourselves.

This time, give yourself permission to take a pause for a while. This is a safe space for you to be yourself where you don’t have to be someone you’re not. Allow yourself to feel sad, angry, disappointed, anxious, or afraid. Your thoughts, emotions, and sensations are welcome here. After those years of hiding, let this be a time where you show up to the world by being yourself.

You are allowed to feel tired and in need of decent rest. You are allowed to finally admit that this life is hard and you are tired of pretending that everything’s fine. Allow yourself to fully acknowledge your vulnerability for a while. After all this time of carrying a heavy burden by yourself, allow yourself to finally say, “I’m not okay.”

Whatever expectations that people have on you right now, you are still allowed to be confused and to admit that you’re lost along the way. You are allowed to finally realize that you’ve made some mistakes and wrong decisions—and you’re allowed to forgive yourself.

You are allowed to notice your unhealed trauma and start to heal it one day at a time. You are allowed to be anxious and afraid. You are allowed to see your own toxic behaviors and you are allowed to seek help and receive unconditional love by just being yourself.

Please know that you are still worthy of love and acceptance even when you’re being yourself. You are allowed to be loved exactly for who you truly are. So, allow yourself to stop pleasing others by saying yes to everything and being someone you’re not.

This time, allow yourself to be liberated and free from people’s expectations and approval.

At the end of the day, what matters most is your own approval of yourself. It is what you feel, think, and say to yourself that matters most. Allowing yourself to be you means that you’re accepting your true self, no matter how unacceptable you are in the eyes of other people.

The journey of accepting yourself might be the most difficult thing in your life, but one day, you will finally be the most authentic version of yourself that you can ever be.

You’ve given your best efforts to survive and I’m proud of you—we are proud of you. Let all of these words sink deep into your heart. Believe that you are always allowed to be yourself, wherever you are.

After all this time, you are always allowed to be human.