Why is being ourselves so hard to do?

We can play out an actor’s part in a movie with no problem at all. We can stand in the shower shamelessly yelling out lyrics we don’t know. We play around with our friends, laughing and quoting famous lines from every talk show.

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment,” said American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson.

To me, Emerson couldn’t have been more correct. Because of our weak-mindedness, all society has to do is push a magazine in our face to mold our state of being.

Some of us are becoming so insecure within our own skin that we would rather let others define themselves so that we become a cheap replica.

Because of the constant criticism we receive when “marching to the beat of our own drum,” we hide in the shadows, leaving someone else to blame when society decides it doesn’t like the idea.

“You are not special. You’re not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You’re the same decaying organic matter as everything else. We’re all part of the same compost heap,” said author Chuck Palahniuk.

This is what the media is telling us, but because they write it in fancy letters and sing it to a cheerful beat we accept it, not understanding that we are being mocked and used as their entertainment.

Being you is only hard because when we decide to be different we begin to be pushed in a corner hidden from our peers.

They would rather hide you and fight against the beauty you stand for, so that you won’t be noticed by others and start a chain effect.

Success isn’t promised to a replica because clearly you can’t offer anything they haven’t seen before.

Being yourself is the hardest decision to make, but it’s the best decision to make.