To be yourself in a world that’s trying to make you into someone else

To be yourself in a world that’s trying to make you someone else: find this a sad truth – there’s someone constantly telling us what to do and who to be. This noise is so loud that we sometimes cannot hear what our heart is telling us. Unfortunately, sometimes we don’t even know who we are because the outside noise is so loud. For such circumstances, this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson acts as a great inspiration to find our inner voice.

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is a great accomplishment – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Each time I read this quote, I find a pause that makes me think. This pause is mostly about figuring out what this means to me. And the same about understanding what this quote means and how it makes us rethink where we are. The key questions are: Who am I, what do I want and what’s the type of person that I’d like to be? You see so many beautiful complexities here. In this article, we’re trying to explore the different meanings this quote can take and make us think about.

To be yourself in a world trying to make you into someone else

We don’t talk about this enough – To be yourself is the greatest accomplishment. Sometimes it sounds like a bad excuse to be rude, rebellious and even hurt people. On the other hand, it is about figuring out what your thoughts are trying to tell you. It is difficult to listen to ourselves when there are so many things influencing us. Be yourself everyone else is already taken – Oscar Wilde. The truth is that everyone else is already taken. We can keep trying to become a poor imitation of someone else or try hard to just become what our hearts tell us to.

We’re constantly influenced by our peers, culture, education, advertising, etc. In all these noises, being yourself is indeed the greatest accomplishment! The idea is not to try to force ourselves to believe something, but just to listen with curiosity and understand its meaning. This quote makes us think about a few things such as:

• What does it take to be yourself
• Who’s stopping you and identifying your influencers
• Building confidence to trust your thoughts and create your destiny

Ultimately it questions why we are compromising the ability to be ourself and whether it is worth the effort?

In a world constantly trying to make you into someone

I’ve often asked this – why does the world try to make us into something else? The answers I’ve received are – it is easy, predictable and simple. But simple for whom? This is something we need to be extra cautious about. The world is trying to create a replica of what it believes we should be. You can see so much judgement and bias involved in this already.

People giving you unsolicited advice

I’m amazed at the ease with which people like to give us advice. It is a rather difficult job – to give advice, but it must all come from a place of care. The problem is that people tend to judge rather than care or be kind. Most people can’t differentiate between their lives and yours. Hence the whole exercise of advise seeking is flawed right from the start. The best we can do is to listen to their experiences and try to learn from it. Remember that sometimes this advice is just another form of noise that takes you away from the message of your heart.

People getting offended that you don’t follow their advice

I find this funnier. Sometimes it feels that the advice is trying to make you into someone like them rather than letting you figure it out. Remember, the world is constantly trying to make you into something else. People will take their advice personally because they attach your actions to their input. Let’s be kind to these people. It is difficult right? Then again, you don’t have to do what they say because it still is your life and you are the only one who has to face the results of action or inaction. You are not only responsible for what you say or do but for the things that you don’t too.

Defining your own meanings of success, failure

It is amazing to see the various definitions of success and failure. They all mean different things to different people. In the spirit of understanding yourself, you need to figure out what these things mean to you. Maybe you don’t have to fall under the same bracket as defined by the world around you. You have to find ways to stand apart and recognise what success means to you. You don’t have to follow the same definitions and success metrics that the rest of the world does. You can even maintain a good distance from this to protect yourself.

Being exposed to the judgement of the world

The world has a clear set of rules, regulations and fixed definitions of who you have to be. The problem is that this list is never-ending. What is the point of trying to live up to the expectations of the world? That too when these expectations are constantly changing?

I’ll come back to the central meaning of this quote – in a world that’s constantly trying to make you into someone else, it is an achievement to be yourself. Keep coming back to its meaning, find your path and respect others in the same journey as yours.

References:

• https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/12080.Ralph_Waldo_Emerson
• https://www.calm.com/blog/how-to-be-yourself