The 2022 Pep Talk You Didn’t Know You Needed

This is the year you push yourself to new heights. Define yourself (and your fears), and never look back!

Photo by Uriel Mont from Pexels

“I’m not playing a role. I’m being myself, whatever the hell that is.” — Bea Arthur

It’s all too convenient to be someone else — I mean, we’re urged to ‘be and indivdual,’ and then are blasted when we color outside the lines. What other choice is there but to avoid punishment and conform? ‘Say the right thing.’ ‘Take the safe road.’ ‘Don’t make waves.’ Life is just easier when you sit down, shut up, and do as you’re told.

And that’s what I’ve done: I’ve shut my mouth.

I haven’t been myself for a long time. At some point, I decided society’s values were more important than my own.

Somewhere along the way, I felt that everyone’s opinion about me and what I was doing, and where I was going, mattered more than my innate wisdom and natural intelligence — as if the voice I was born with was not enough.

Consequently, I pushed myself mentally and physically for years — suffering from panic attacks and…