Be True To Yourself!!!

HI. So I guess it's been a while since I've done a real true inspirational, huh?  ;) Time to remedy that.

So a topic that's been weighing heavily on my mind recently, due to my own personal experience and that of my friends (and family) is this.  To Thine Own Self Be True!  My own blog name!!

Being true to yourself. 

Not letting others tell you who to be, or how to be.

A lot of my friends have told me that I'm good at this.  I'm good at being myself and not caring what others think.  Well thanks guys! :) I'm glad you think so. XD I try. I really really do.  Because I've not always been that way.  I think that this whole "Sexy and I know it" philosophy, as Autumn calls it, has come in the past year.  Because for a really long time, I cared a LOT about what others thought of me, or what I looked like to them. 

Now, as my lack of style makes crushingly obvious, I don't care. XD  I don't care if I wear Star Wars shirts in public, or if I talk in movie quotes, or if I bring my Star Wars book with me to read.  I don't care if my cell phone ringtone is the Star Wars theme, or if I hear the TARDIS noise on my iPod if I get email.  It doesn't bother me. In fact, when that happens in public, I get excited. XD

I get weird stares for writing Silence-Tally-Marks on my arms, or for talking in a British accent to recite lines from Doctor Who.  I get asked questions when I wear my "Keep Calm And Don't Blink" t-shirt (happened yesterday when we were at the mall XD) and sometimes I DO get criticism for it.  (I've been called an array of names for all my geeky-pride-tendencies) 

But here's what I'm getting at.  For a while, I was ASHAMED to be that girl who liked Star Wars, or knew the entirety of Captain America by heart, or owned dozens of Star Wars shirts.  Guess what?  I am so PROUD now, it doesn't even matter. 

A lot of this goes back to Ashley Eckstein.  She made it cool to be a geek-girl.  I saw how awesome she was, and how inspiring she was, and thought to myself "Wow, I wanna be like her." 

Now, I can be proud to say that I'm a friend of hers (how cool is that?! :D) and I definitely "flaunt my world".  ;)  She made me feel very UN-Alone, realizing there are THOUSANDS of other geek girls out there.  Because of her, I've met all three of my best friends, and countless other awesome people and friends.  I met 15 gorgeous ladies at Celebration who I am so proud to call my real true friends. ;)  I run a forum with another one of my closest friends just for girls who once felt alone in the world because of their fandoms.  NOW WE ARE TOGETHER! ;D

Her Universe!!! :D

So here's my advice to all of you who are ashamed of what others will say or think when you're being yourself.  Whatever yourself may be, whether it be a fangirl (or boy) or a Christian or a musician, or a tomboy or a girlygirl.  Whatever it is that makes your heart excited and happy, whatever it is that God has laid on your heart, don't lose sight of it.  Because there is no reason to be ashamed!!!!!

Flaunting your world….whether it be your real world, your fictional one, or a little bit of both, it's awesome.  I have met SO many cool people who flaunt their worlds.  Last week I was grocery shopping with my dad and Embie, and we met a fangirl at Wal-Mart. XD We were fangirling over The Hobbit (EEEEEEEEPPPP) and so was this girl, and then we started talking about how much we both love Martin Freeman (JOOHHHNNNN) and Sherlock, and then she told me she liked my Captain America t-shirt, and then we started talking about Avengers, and Hawkeye and Loki and it was just like "OMG PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAAAAND" XD It was awesome!! 

Stuff like that happens to me all the time.  Well, not ALL the time, sometimes I just get really weird looks, but a lot of the time I get cool people to talk to me.  ;D

Met a Marvel fan at the Disney Store.  A fellow Whovian at Barnes and Noble.  A Star Wars fangirl at my dad's work (she also likes Marvel :D) and those are just a few off the top of my head. XD

ALL the fandoms!!!

If you're reading this post, that means you know me by some sort of way, whether it be Twitter, Facebook, The Lakehouse, Tumblr, Instagram, whatever.  Then you know that I'm a pretty fandom-confident person. 

All I've done is talked about myself.  But look at how cool all that is!! Look at the cool people I've met!

You can too!!! And I'm not just talking about rocking your fandoms.  I'm talking about life. 

Here's a good example of someone has confidence and is unafraid of what people think. 

I have a friend at dance class.  Her name is Abbey.  Abbey is 15 (I think…XD) and she's not exactly one of the tiny-stick-figure dancers you'll see in magazines.  She knows that.  But I have NEVER met a more confident, hilarious, awesome teenager in my entire life. XD She's really funny, always cracking jokes and making fun of herself even.  She's a BRILLIANT dancer.  I'm jealous of her skills.  She's not a teeny twig, not super skinny, but she's really talented.  And she is so open to learning and everything. 

This is the best thing about Abbey.  She's so confident.  Last week, she wore a rainbow tutu to dance class.  With a sweater.  Not just a little cardigan, no, a John Watson Certified Cat Hugger sweater.  xDD

But you know what?  She ROCKED IT.  She looked great. XD The tutu was hilarious, but by the way she wore it with her sweater, you wouldn't have been able to tell that she didn't wear a tutu every single day.  She was confident.

Don't you want to be confident like Abbey?  Able to rock your tutu?  She could've been offended when the other girls in our class laughed at her for wearing a rainbow tutu.  She could've been offended when our teacher laughed too, and asked what on earth she was wearing.  She could've been shy and not worn it at all, and come in sweat pants and a baggy t-shirt like every other girl in the class (that's giving them a lot of credit...the other girls in my class don't dress that nice XDD).  But she didn't.  She wore her tutu because SHE LIKED IT and SHE WAS CONFIDENT IN HERSELF.

So for those of you who are shy and afraid to be yourself because other people will laugh at you or put you down, don't be.  Rock your tutu, be silly, have fun.  Don't let ANYONE tell you who to be.  Because there are only TWO PEOPLE IN THE WHOLE WORLD who can do that to you.  Yourself, and God.  And God needs to be the one making the final cut on these sorts of things.  If you discount Him, or don't acknowledge Him, you're really lost.  I wouldn't be as confident as I am now without Him.  Trust me.

I used to be like that.  Sometimes I still get a little shy and get low self esteem.  But I usually get over it after some prayer and serious thought.  A friend of mine told me the other day that he realized that changing yourself for others is really pointless, because who cares what they think anyway?  He came to the conclusion he doesn't need the approval of the "cool kids" at school.  Good on him.  ;)

Heh, at my school, I am the cool kid. XDDD (Homeschool humor...sorry, couldn't help it.)

He's right though.  Do you really /really/ need their approval?  Do you need to prove anything to them?  In ten years from now, are those people going to matter?  In FOUR years from now, are those people going to matter?  The answer is most likely no.  So reevaluate where you are in life and what your priorities are.  Where do you want to see yourself in 4 years? 

One more point before I wrap this up….I am so sick of people saying they're not good enough.  That they're not pretty enough or nice or make a difference.  That they don't matter.  That they're lame, or pathetic, or a loser, or have no point in being on this earth. 

Shut the HECK up.  Because first of all, GOD DOES NOT MAKE ANY MISTAKES.  Humans do, but God certainly doesn't.  You wouldn't be on this earth if He didn't have a plan and purpose for you. 

About not being pretty enough, we're all made in HIS image.  Do you REALLY want to tell God He's ugly?  :P

Stop living in a pity party zone.  It's getting old.  (I think you know who you are if you're reading this) You're beautiful, special and amazing.  Your self esteem needs help, but that's what God's for.  If you have Him on your side, you don't need to be ashamed or feel like a loser.  This is for all of you!!  When you're saved in Christ, you are BORN AGAIN.  A NEW PERSON.  That old loser mistake maker pathetic person is behind and you are born again beautiful and renewed in Him.  If that doesn't give you hope that you really can be yourself in Christ, I don't know what will.

So cut it out (COUGH PERSON COUGH) because you're missing how amazing you are.  How important you are, and how special.  For those of you who are living in that mindset that you're not good enough, that you're pathetic and a loser, get OVER IT.  God loves you and has a plan for you.  Don't let ANYONE tell you who to be. Don't let anyone run your life for you.  You are your OWN PERSON and the only person who you need to worry about in your life is Jesus Christ. ;)

On a slightly less serious note, the best way to overcome self loathing is narcissism.  You hate yourself, but you still think you're better than everyone else.  Peasants.  XD

Got that from Tumblr.  xD (ahhhh Tumblr) 

In conclusion….go forth and be yourself friends!!! Have fun with it.  Remember the immense love Jesus has for you and the wonderful plans he has for you.  Stop living in fear of what others will say about you.  Because in the grand scheme of things, does it truly  matter? ;)

May the Force be with you all.

Grace

P.S. A lot of this was inspired by a leadership skills program we use in our homeschool called Habitudes.  The lesson we just did talked a lot about self image and got me thinking.  Habitudes is written by Dr. Tim Elmore.  It's really great and well worth looking into. ;) 

I hope you enjoyed!!!  
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