When it comes to brands, the original product is always much more expensive than the copy. Have you ever wondered why? Because that original product is made with the best ideas, the best materials, and the best processes. Copies will always be what they are: copies. However many millions of times they try to reproduce the original, the ideas are not their own, the processes are different, and so the final result, however closely it resembles the original, will always be a mere imitation.
The same thing happens with people. Sometimes, when we carry a great deal of emptiness and frustration, we try to imitate people and behaviors we believe are right in order to meet our need for acceptance, for belonging, for feeling part of a group. By imitating others, we are only meeting our needs temporarily, because imitation takes us away from who we really are. We are constantly searching for a model to follow because we have forgotten that being “original” means being ourselves.
Our authenticity was stifled at some point in our lives—almost always during childhood—and we are not aware of it. Those who stifle authenticity are usually very close to us: our parents, relatives, neighbors, classmates, teachers, and so on. They try to force us into the same rigid mold someone once forced them into, and it unsettles them to see someone being authentic and shining with their own light. Be careful: very few realize they have lost their authenticity. Its absence is disguised as “the way things ought to be.” They pride themselves on fitting into society and, consciously or unconsciously, try to corner you into becoming like them.
Now that you know, rebel and be yourself. Take off the mask you were made to wear. Laugh if you feel like laughing, cry if you feel like crying, dance if your body asks you to, even when your mind feels embarrassed. Let yourself feel, marvel at the simple things in life, enjoy being alive, and be an example of freedom and authenticity for others. Your authentic self is still there, asking for its space. Let it in. Let it be.
People will talk. They will criticize you because you have overcome the barriers that hold them back. Your light dazzles them; your joy bothers them. They are absorbed in the small world they inhabit behind their masks, and they will try to pull you back. Be brave and protect your joy, your hopes, and your dreams. Sooner or later, those who tried to manipulate you will want to be like you. What they do not yet know is that they will not find their authenticity where you are. They will find it within their own hearts.
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson