Be You, or Be Blue!


“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life's busy bustle can often distract us from the important things. Too often, the first thing to go when we are busy and running around, is our sense of self.

Don't know what I mean?

When we don't feel busy, and when we're not catching up on quiet after having been so busy, we do the things we love and we're not only happier but we find we are more at peace. Why is that? Because we are being true to ourselves. We are, whether we know it or not, recognizing our inner selves and making time for our individuality and what makes us unique as people. Yes, the things we do from day to day that keep us busy are part of our individual lives, but they are not who we are as individuals. Too often, we forget the difference. We accept our chores and duties as our identity, and we don't realize that it's being someone else that is exhausting us.

While it's true that in most cases we can't very well give up those chores and duties, we can recognize and accept that they are not all that we are, and understand that it is important to find balance so that we do not lose ourselves to these constructed identities.

So where do we start? By remembering to dig deeper and remembering who we actually are, and then by creating time to honour that. Note that I specify creating time, rather than finding time. If we try to find time, we may only find that we have a lot on our plate that is important and needs doing. This makes it all too easy to fall into past patterns and prioritize everything else as being of a higher priority. But being true to ourselves is a priority, and so we must make a decision to create time for this to be our focus.

Think about it, no matter how busy we are, if the car breaks down we somehow manage to make time to bring it to the garage. It's not easy, but it gets done. However, if we feel we are stressed and don't know who we are anymore, our response to ourselves is simply “I don't have time for that.”

Creating time can be difficult, but it is not impossible. We just have to recognize and accept the importance of it. We have to treat this as something that is just as important as a meeting with the CEO of our workplace, and schedule it in.

With me so far?

So who are you? What are ways that you can honour who you are, things you can do that make you feel your most you?

If you're like me, than you are probably most at peace when you have been making time for your creative outlets, as well as finding ways to relax and simply exist outside where there's fresh air and the sound of birds chirping to ground you. Sometimes this means bringing a book or notebook to the beach, sometimes it's going for walks in the woods, or meditating by a river, sometimes it means spending time surrounded by animals.

But there are many different ways to honour our inner selves, and all depend on the individual. For some, it might mean taking the time to eat right, go to the gym, and focus on treating their bodies as a temple. For someone else, that might mean going fishing and enjoying the quiet solitude of being out on the lake. Sometimes, it means getting our hands greasy working on an old engine, and sometimes it means being pampered at the spa or going shopping.

Regardless of the activities, we each have things that make us feel more like ourselves and I think it's time that in the hustle and bustle of the 21st Century, we remind ourselves to prioritize these things. To prioritize our individuality.

So, how will you honour your individuality this year? If you feel so inclined, let me know in the comments below or via email at thebrastreetrambler@gmail.com 

Also,

Throwback to this old commercial, pardon the poor quality.  What's Your Thing? 

Cheers!
The Bra Street Rambler


New features for The Bra Street Rambler

You may have noticed the new display picture and layout, you may have discovered that I am dabbling with a new Instagram account, and you may have caught the new Rambler's Rave last week. However, there is something else I've been working on for this blog! What is it you may ask? Slowly, but surely, I am adding labels to each post so that similar posts might prove easier to find. If you liked this post, feel free to click on the Individuality tag in the Labels section located in the left hand toolbar to see what else I've written on getting to know yourself as a unique individual. Really liked what I wrote? Feel free to hit the share icon below!

You might also have noticed the new Follow button in the left hand tool bar, why don't you give that a click to let me know you're out there? Want to receive notifications when I post something new? Try hitting the Subscribe button above!

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