“The point is you’re you, and that’s for keeps.”
How many times have you tried to be something you are not?
The most outgoing person in the room when you’d tend towards quiet.
The knowledgeable one about a topic of conversation when truth is, you know very little.
The one going all in on one career (or major or job or vocation) when you feel called to something quite different.
The happiest one around when at that moment, you feel rather sad instead.
Yesterday, as I contemplated one of the questions Ignatius asks in the Spiritual Exercises “Do you stand on the side of Christ or the world?”, I thought about what was easy and what was hard about standing on the side of Christ.
In my prayer, do you know what came up as one of the hardest things about standing on the side of Christ?
Being completely yourself.
I think standing on the side of Christ can only be done well if you are living into the person you were created to be. That means you let people see the real, messy, human you and you are okay with what they see.
It means you can be the quiet, thoughtful one.
It means you can not know and learn from others who do.
It means you can chase dreams when you feel pulled towards them.
It means you can let yourself feel whatever emotions may come.
Christ needs you… exactly as you are.
Because “you’re you, and that’s for keeps.”
I think Being true to oneself shows strength of character and courage, which I’m sure is a gift from God and in weaker moments we may forget this.
Amen.