Hang with me…there is a point…
I have naturally curly hair. When it is humid it is obnoxious. Being human of course I always wanted straight hair growing up (and on humid days sometimes now.) So often I would straighten my hair and force it into its un-natural state. Eventually some of it permanently loses curl or curls the wrong way. So now I have crazy ringlets and occasional non-conformist requiring I curl it.
That little exercise in vanity taught me that if I would have just gone with how I am it would have been fine. Instead I forced myself into an un-natural ideal that does not work long-term for me and now have added additional work to my plate to re-correct. Don’t we all do this on some non-hair level in our lives?
Fitting into the norm is necessary in some environments and circumstances. We can pretend it isn’t but the reality is if you want to walk the face of the earth and at some point feed, clothe and house yourself there are just some things you must abide by. There is a difference however in between operating within the norm and conforming.
Conforming is operating as you ‘feel’ you should be. It is like straightening your hair. You can do it, but it won’t bring your natural talents and skills to the table. Trust me, I know of what I speak. I’ve done it with my hair and my career and neither ended up happily. So if you are doing it, and if you are human, you most certainly are on some level, have the fortitude, just plain old guts, to bring yourself to the table.
Bring yourself to the table, not a version of yourself or yourself with excuses, just you. And know that when you do, there may be an adjustment period while people re-aclimate to the real you. Be easy on those aclimating…afterall you have been deceiving them for quite a while.