“What I owe the American people is to let them see who I am so there are no surprises.  I don’t want to be anyone but Michelle Obama.  And I want people to know what they’re getting”

– Michelle Obama

Who are you?

Social media tells us what to wear, eat, say, and do.  It even tells us who to be – like one celebrity or another.  Everyone out there wants to define you, will you let them?

When Michelle Obama hit the campaign trail beside her husband in 2008, the media wanted her to be a political wife – quiet, demure, self-effacing, and without opinions.  But Michelle was talkative and opinionated.  When she talked about how, for the first time in her adult life, she was proud of her country, they labeled her ‘an angry black woman.’  But, she kept on being herself.  Eventually, most of the people who’d thought negatively about her, came to appreciate her.

Being our real selves takes grit.  It means showing our unique qualities in a world that strives to make us copies of other people.  It requires loving yourself just the way you are.  It is not about how you look or what you wear, it is about embracing what makes you, You – unique, complete, and confident.  To be yourself, decide today to:

Keys to being you

1. Love yourself just because. Accept yourself, warts and all.  Not because others love you but because you do. Don’t put any conditions on loving or caring for yourself.  Don’t love you because you get all As. Or got your work done.  Or took out the trash.  Just love you because you are you.  Wake up in the morning and say, “I love me.”
2. Own your mistakes and your perfections – sure, work on whatever’s not working in your personality – lack of motivation, confidence, self-hate – but don’t discard your uniqueness or personality trying to become someone else.
3. Surround yourself with people who love you. Michelle said time and again that she was privileged to be raised by extraordinary women who taught her quiet strength and dignity.  When you have strong, loving people around you, they breathe strength into you.
4. Live your values and let them drive your decisions. Do what matters most to you.
5. Connect with your higher power or spiritual source through meditation, prayer, and fellowship.
6. Spend time in silence to look inward. Use your silent time to cleanse your inner being of outside expectations and interference.  Connect with yourself, remember your values, and build your inner strength.