Some people won’t be your people and some people won’t like us. That’s okay.
This is one of the hardest things to be okay with as perfectionists, the idea that other people won’t like us. We aim to be so perfect in everything that we do, that it absolutely pains us when someone sees us as anything different.
But no matter what we do in this world, there will be criticism. You can have the best-ranked restaurant in the entire world and still have someone who thinks the food is the worst food they’ve ever tasted. Unfortunately, that criticism will come. Unfortunately, we will be faced with people who are not nice to us.
But it’s so important to give ourselves compassion during these times when we may feel bad about ourselves because of other’s perceptions of who we are. However, the most important perception of yourself should be your own. So even if others don’t like you, if you give yourself compassion and you love who you are, that is really all that matters.
I won’t lie, every time I get criticism about me, my story, or my work, it stings me to my core. I am a recovering perfectionist, after all. But I think the best thing that I’ve learned to do for myself is to allow myself to feel that pain, rather than try and fight it. I allow myself to feel the pain and then I remind myself why I love myself, why I do the work that I do, and that my hope has always been to help just one person. And I know that I have done that. Providing myself with reassurance, hope and compassion, brings me back to peace and reminds me that I can continue on in my passion, being exactly who I am.
We won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s okay. Stay true to who you are. Stay true to the goals that keep you moving forward. Not everyone will agree or understand or even like you or your plans. But never let those people change your sense of wonder or change who you are. Because even if you try and change who you are, there will still be people who don’t like the “new” you. So you might as well be exactly who you are, and know that the people who get you and support you are the people that you want to keep close. Those are your people.
Choose to be you even when it’s messy, confusing and frustrating. You deserve that. That’s why I close every blog telling you to be beautifully, simply you because I truly want you to be you with all the beautiful flaws that you have. There’s nothing quite like being who you are, looking in the face of society and saying, “This is me, I choose to be me, no matter what you think or who you want me to be. This is me, and I love me for being who I am.”
Xo,
Really and Truly, Be Beautifully Simply You