Who are you really? You may think you know, but may I suggest examining these two components to who we are? The Person I Present To The World (False Self) and Who I Really Am (True Self).
The Person I Present To The World is smart, kind, charming, helpful, sweet, compassionate, forgiving, trustworthy and thoughtful. She follows through on details, never lets anyone down, and does the right things at all times. She is measured and controlled and mature in her responses, even when the people around her act like toddlers. It is who we want to be. When we present this side of ourselves to the world, they like us – a lot!
By contrast, Who I Really Am may be scared, lonely, addictive, critical, angry, insecure, hurt, arrogant, hopeless, selfish, lying, impulsive, entitled, secretive, immature, reactive, hurtful, know-it-all, a drunk, unforgiving, weak, lazy, sinful, etc. She denies this part of herself, trying to keep it hidden from the world, and herself. Annoyingly, it seeps out at the most inopportune moments. Only those closest to her know of her existence. Ironically, the more we try to hide the true self, the harder we have to work to maintain false self and the farther we get from being who we want to be.
We’ve all seen the person who presents themselves as cocky and sure of themselves, but everybody can see they are really insecure underneath? It’s not attractive, is it?
The False Self would like to deny the True Self’s existence! So my question to you is . . . how big is the gap between your False Self (The Person You Present To The World) and your True Self (Who You Are Really)? Guess what? The wider the margin between the two, the more difficulty you are going to have in your life.
It is natural for us to want to cover up the parts of ourselves that we don’t like. As we mature, however, we should be more and more comfortable with admitting that these aspects of ourselves don’t always align. This admission and acceptance gives way to self-improvement – and with the self-improvement comes maturity and with maturity comes freedom!
If you want to have a healthy life, get to work narrowing the gap between The Person You Present To The World and Who You Are Really. I’m not saying to unleash the beast, but I am saying to accept that it exists and work to change those parts of you. The more you deny Who You Are Really, the longer you stay enslaved to the False Self.
To admit that you are a flawed human being and that on some level you are not who you want to be is to release yourself from prison. You no longer have to hide, lie, or cover up. You don’t have to pretend anymore! You can just live in the truth and be who you are. It is the ultimate freedom.
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