get real

Here are some facts about me you won’t know from reading my blog:

  • Even though I’m a certified health coach, sometimes I have cheese and crackers with spicy mustard for dinner.  And a coke.
  • I have so many emails to open that I’ve just been ignoring them, hoping they magically disappear.
  • My car is a disaster.  Seriously, it looks like a homeless person lives out of it.
  • When I’m not getting enough sleep, I get VERY cranky so watch out.
  • One of my biggest fears is not feeling fulfilled in life (I want to travel more extensively, have a baby, find my true purpose).
  • Rudeness makes me mental.  If you’re going to be self-involved around me and act like a jerk, don’t be surprised if I ignore you.
  • Toilet humor always make me laugh.  The grosser the better.

Why am I telling you these lovely tidbits?  Because I want to remind you that things aren’t always what they seem.  What we post online and who we are in everyday life can often seem like two different worlds.

It’s human nature to want to show our best selves, but underneath the facade we know there’s more to the story. That’s the part of the story that needs to be told.

Everything has become so filtered, that it’s easy to forget that we are watching real people living real lives.  There’s so much that exists beyond the images and words but it’s hard to see when everything looks so ‘perfect’.

You know what I’m talking about–the wittily crafted facebook posts, the texts that have been edited 10 times before sending, those perfectly worded emails–sometimes they’re just so exhausting to read because they present that beautiful, wart-free scenario.  I don’t know about you, but it can make me feel jealous and inadequate (among others things).  But I know this much is true:  No one’s life is that perfect all of the time. 

We censor ourselves in everyday life too—we say yes when we want to say hell no, we laugh when we want to scream and we bite our tongue rather than give our friend some tough love.

We don’t show the ugly hair days or the burnt birthday cake.  We don’t think people want to see those things because they’re messy and un-done.  But in reality, they are true and relatable.

And they’re real.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand there are times when it’s appropriate to play along; it makes life easier to show the fun stuff and the pretty pictures.  And life can be tough sometimes, so it’s nice to see and hear about happy things.

But most of the time, we sensor ourselves because we’re afraid to rock the boat, we don’t want to be called out, or we’re just plain lazy to do anything else.  It’s easier to go with the flow, but in the long run that just wears you down in a different way.

Too much editing from your life will remove the depth; without depth, you become boring.

If you’re constantly editing yourself, who are people getting to know?  And how are you feeling about that persona you’re creating?

Even though you can send a text or email and edit it to say exactly what you want it to say, I encourage you to edit less and be more.  Show us who you really are.  I have a feeling it’s pretty great.

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