Be Happy With Who You Are

Who you are is literally who you will always be. Oh yes, people change and evolve; but the present moment is the only thing that exists, and therefore NOW is all you have. The you of this moment, is the only you that exists. Ever. If you can’t be happy with yourself now, the odds of you being happy with yourself in a future that doesn’t exist is pretty slim.

We are raised in a ladder-like society: if you finish kindergarten, you get to 1st grade; if you finish dinner, you get dessert; if you work through entry level, you can get a higher paying job. Our system says, "You're not good enough now; but if you work hard enough, you'll get to a place where you are!". The joke is on us, because once we make it to that "good enough" place, the cycle starts all over again. 1st grade?! Work to get to 2nd grade! You got a raise? It's time to work towards management! You just had your delicious dessert?! Better work out, so you don't gain weight! It feels like we are always working to move upward, striving to be good enough; and then we...DIE...never having been truly happy with what we had, or who we were.

The desire to move forward, and become a better human isn't a bad thing. It's a great thing. Learning and having experiences is our purpose for being alive. Staying in 1st grade forever will not likely enrich one’s life. Seeking new adventures, experiences, and challenges helps us to become stronger humans; but if we are growing up unhappy, is there any value in growing up? There is a tight rope dividing complacency and contentment, and it isn't easy to keep balance.

I am a progressive individual. I crave new learning experiences, challenges, and advancements. It is a blessing and a curse. The upside is that my life rarely grows stagnant; and the downside is I struggle to be happy with who I am, or where I am. Not too long ago, I was never happy with who I was while I was working towards who I wanted to be...so by default, I was never happy with myself. Then I had this mind-bending shift, and I realized that not being "good enough" is simply a perception. When I chose to change my perception, and make my main ambition to love myself, my entire life changed.

Is it easy for me to believe I am good enough? Shit, no.

SHIT NO.

The path of least resistance, for me, was learning to love myself as I am. I can love myself in my darkest “I am not good enough andIsuckineverypossiblewayever” moments now, which makes those moments increasingly fleeting. ...and you know what? Loving yourself, and being happy with who you are makes it a whole lot easier to be progressive. Firstly, the stress which accumulates when you're afraid you won't get ahead dissipates, because you become more grateful for what you have. Secondly, the self-hatred that eats away at you because you're not "good enough" is not nearly as loud, because you love yourself anyway. Perhaps you won't move up as quickly as you would have before, but you'll be a metric shit ton happier along the way.

I have failed a lot in this life- I'm quite proud at how good I am at failing, really. Because of my impressive list of failures, I have learned a lot; and the most important thing I have learned so far is:

Do what you want- but do it happy, do it loving yourself.