You Can’t Hide Your Light

After a recent visit with my sister and my niece, her daughter, I started reflecting on the nature of personality and its manifestations. My nieces are out of their teens now, and growing into beautiful women, taking after their mother. But it's their maturing that got me thinking.

They are smart, assertive, forceful young women. Their mother is too, though she's only now learning it. In fact, as I look at my family, we all live in vastly differing life circumstances, and have had divergent paths growing up from a dysfunctional alcoholic start.

Yet in each case, now confirmed by the next generation, there's a streak of stubborn independence and force of will, sharp thinking, and incisive wit. We'd be a difficult lot to deal with if we weren't also so lovable!

My point is that no matter what life throws at you, or you bring on yourself, there's no point to worrying about "losing yourself." You can't. And if you're convinced that you need to engage in the so-called search for yourself, forget it. You're not lost. You'd be like Peter Pan looking for his shadow. It's right behind you.

In fact, I'm thinking that your "self" will make itself known no matter what you do. You express yourself with every move, every breath, and every thought. So maybe thinking time is better spent on "what you can you for the world" rather than "expressing yourself." The important question is what do you have to express? In life as in the internet, content rules. No matter how crude the delivery, good content wins every time.

So, whether you're sweating before speaking to a crowd, jittery as you wait for a job interview, or nervous before stepping on stage, focus on the content … the message … and your joy in delivering it. Everything else will take care of itself. You can count on it. In fact, you can't stop it.