{"id":2472,"date":"2013-01-18T12:38:42","date_gmt":"2013-01-18T20:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.matthewliberty.com\/?p=2472"},"modified":"2013-01-18T12:38:42","modified_gmt":"2013-01-18T20:38:42","slug":"waking-up-to-who-you-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.threeadventure.com\/matthewliberty\/2013\/01\/18\/waking-up-to-who-you-are\/","title":{"rendered":"Waking Up To Who You Are"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><span style=\"color: #000000;text-decoration: underline\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tinybuddha.com\/category\/quotes\"><span style=\"color: #000000;text-decoration: underline\">&#8220;Waking up to who you are requires letting go of who you imagine yourself to be.<\/span><\/a>&#8220;- <a href=\"http:\/\/tinybuddha.com\/wisdom-author\/alan-watts\/\"><span style=\"color: #000000;text-decoration: underline\">Alan Watts<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2478\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2478\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.threeadventure.com\/matthewliberty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2013\/01\/IMG_3174.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2478\" alt=\"A new path to travel\" src=\"https:\/\/www.threeadventure.com\/matthewliberty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2013\/01\/IMG_3174-200x300.jpg\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.threeadventure.com\/matthewliberty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2013\/01\/IMG_3174-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.threeadventure.com\/matthewliberty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2013\/01\/IMG_3174-683x1024.jpg 683w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2478\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A new path to travel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Words are powerful but even more powerful when put together in such a way that they can move people, make people think, or make people take action.<\/p>\n<p>I read a lot, mostly articles but books here and there; I also appreciate quotes like the one at the top of this article. Most of what I read gets lost in the abyss but every once in a while certain words just grab me and force me outside of that comfortable little place inside of insecurity, self-doubt, anxiety, and confusion. The quote above, by Alan Watts, made me think quite a bit. In fact, over the past few days I\u2019ve read it 500 times, give or take 20.<\/p>\n<p>I understand what the words mean but the more I read it I started getting hung up on the \u201cwho you imagine yourself to be\u201d part of the quote. Is this referring to our own made up version of who we are and how we live life? Or does it refer to how we often live our lives based on societal or familial pressures? Since there is no wording implying that it is an outside source I\u2019m assuming it means the version of who you THINK you are because you struggle to see the truth\u2026although I\u2019m not completely content with that meaning.<\/p>\n<p>For me to \u201cwake up to who I am\u201d requires me, or anyone, to:<\/p>\n<p>1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stop being so hard on myself<\/p>\n<p>2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Find comfort in the skin I am living in<\/p>\n<p>3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Focus on my life, what I\u2019m doing and how I\u2019m doing it, rather than focusing on what other people are doing or not doing<\/p>\n<p>4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stop allowing other peoples insecurities, boundaries, and fear affect me<\/p>\n<p>5)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Be open, honest, and fearless with myself about who I am<\/p>\n<p>It seems pretty simple to \u201cbe who you are\u201d and maybe for most people it is but I have always struggled with direction, with defining myself, with being hard on myself, with wondering if I\u2019m good enough for myself or anyone else, and with whether I\u2019m doing enough or even doing the right thing at all. It\u2019s tough to \u201ctake stock\u201d of what you are and who you are but I think it\u2019s an invaluable part of this journey. Those that don\u2019t, in my opinion, never fully live and never fully be who they could be\u2026wasted potential to some degree.<\/p>\n<p>This journey is about growth, learning, evolving, changing, and discovering new paths. I\u2019ve come a long way from when I started this aspect of my journey but I have so much more to go\u2026and I look forward to it. I hope you\u2019re on a path that you can look in the mirror and be happy about, if not, it may be time to \u201ctake stock\u201d and look for a new path. Cheers!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Waking up to who you are requires letting go of who you imagine yourself to be.&#8220;- Alan Watts &nbsp; Words are powerful but even more&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-life","category-motivation","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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