Smiling Sundays - #295 The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

I Make NO Apologies For Being Myself

There’s a quote that’s attributed to Oscar Wilde but it’s thought this exact quote comes from somewhere else unknown at the moment…and the quote says, “Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.” I think it’s easy to apologize for who we are. We think we aren’t perfect, we think we have faults, and we think people can see all of that inside of us…and so we want to apologize to others for not being enough. But that’s the lie we tell ourselves, that we have to be perfect to be worthy, that we have to have it altogether at all times to be accepted or known as something great.

We put people on pedestals…raising them up high…and then when they fall we judge them for not being the perfect people we expected them to be. We’re upset by what we made them out to be. Look at Tiger Woods and his infidelity issue that was on public display and how people judged him for his private family matter, or how vice president Dan Quayle misspelled potato. He was crucified for making a mistake…which to tell you the truth I would have misspelled it too. In fact when it happened I was like…you mean there’s no “E” at the end?

I was looking at the back story for Dan’s misspelling mistake for this podcast, and they said he was part of an elementary school spelling bee. He had a que card that was given to him for the correct spelling of the word…and Dan’s card actually had the word spelled incorrectly as well… it had an “E” at the end of it… so someone else had made that mistake as well, but Dan was the one who corrected the student from the card.

For me, it just seemed so crazy at how people wanted to crucify him for making a simple mistake. We do this with presidents and politicians, especially the ones who don’t line up with our political leanings, as we expect them to be perfect, to be amazing speakers, to have all the answers…and it’s because we expect these people to BE our answers…instead of understanding that WE ALL are the answers. We want the best people to become president, to be perfect, as they are running the country…but we put unrealistic expectations on people. Celebrities or higher ups…they are human just like us, they make mistakes just like us, and we feel it’s ok to crucify someone for making a mistake.

I took a non-credit course at the University of Tennessee this past month and it was a crash course into stand up comedy. A friend of mine and I figured it would help better our public speaking as people want to be entertained more than just told they need to change…so if you can entertain people while enlightening them, the change can be more powerful

The class was 5 weeks followed by an open mic night on the 6th week …and I’m pretty sure I bombed my open mic performance. My first joke, there actually were crickets in the audience after I told it…and I was like, “oh no this isn’t going to end too well.”

And after my act I felt bad after because you want to do amazing, you want your first time to be where people give you a standing ovation…but that’s not realistic. I’ve heard that at famous stand-up comedy clubs it’s hard to get in to do a small skit for a comedian unless they’ve been doing an open mic night every week for 2 years. And so when I went home and was done crying myself to sleep from failing… ok not crying maybe just weeping silently…I felt good the next day because I faced my fear. I faced the chance of being heckled, and it made me more conscious of how to be a better speaker and how to think about adding entertaining elements in different spots purposefully. It got me thinking more creatively.

And so while I could’ve been crucified for even trying to get up there… I was proud that I did it. I was proud that I failed and had a new perspective, and I was proud that I didn’t apologize for being me. So no matter what anyone thought about me that night…I really don’t care. I don’t care whether they loved me or hated me…sure I wanted them to like it…but that event wasn’t about them…it was about me…and if they were entertained…well, then that was a bonus. And I’m not going to appologize for being myself. I giggle at my silly stupid jokes all the time, and I giggled up on stage at them when I told them. So I made the most important person laugh I wanted to…me…I make no apologies for being me…and I hope you make no apologies for being you.

Today’s Personal Commitment:
How can you accept yourself unequivocally today? How can you feel comfortable and confident in being the person you are? I know sometimes when a person passes me that I respect I may compare myself to them… which makes me feel bad…so instead of comparing or criticizing yourself for not being perfect today…what if you were to pivot from that negative thought and congratulate yourself for getting up and trying today? What if you were to not apologize but to thank yourself for being you? No one’s perfect, and no one’s asking you to be perfect except yourself…so find a saying that resonates with you about loving yourself today…whether it be…I’m glad I am me, and I’m glad I am growing every day from my mistakes…or you find another one that resonates more with you.

Today I ask you to NOT to apologize to anyone, even yourself…for being you. You are amazing.

I Make NO Apologies For Being Myself

 

 

Thanks for listening.  I'm sending great energy your way as we become Strong Within together,
Personal Development Life Coach-
Chris O'Hearn

Contact info- email: [email protected]  phone:865-219-3247

 

 

Music by:
- Zest by basematic (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
- I Have Often Told You Stories (guitar instrumental) by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee USA but available worldwide