Okay.  Here we go.

Do you ever feel like everyone is competing for everything?  Everything has to be something.  Nothing can ever just…be.

Hold on, I don’t think I’m making any sense.  Let me back up.

I took my Fitbit off.  I love the thing, don’t get me wrong.  But at least right now, things can’t be a competition.  I’m hurt.  My foot needs to heal.  And the only things the Fitbit was doing was 1) reminding me that I wasn’t measuring up to others and 2) showcasing how much I’m really on my feet during the work week.  Neither were making me feel very good about myself.  So I took it off.

I withdrew from the competition.

That’s just one very obvious example, but bear with me here.  I might be the only one who feels this way, but lately I’ve just gotten the sense that so many people are trying too hard.

There’s a big difference between working hard and trying too hard.  I’m all for working hard.  But when you’re working hard, you usually have a central mission.  You know who you are, what you want, what your end game is.  But when you’re trying too hard?  Well, that’s a different story.

Stop being afraid to just be yourself.  Stop trying so hard to find an angle that makes you different.  Not to sound cliche, but you’re the only you out there.  Just be yourself, and that alone makes you different.  That alone sets you apart.  And no one can do that, be you, better than you can.  You might have similarities to others, awesome!  Great!  We all love finding people who are like us. But you don’t need to stand on your head or fart fire (please don’t fart fire) to get the world to pay attention to you.

The right people will find you, and they’ll stay because quite simply, they like you.  You don’t have to be better than anyone else.  And no one else has to be better than you.

I’ve felt paralyzed a little bit this week.  I’ve stared at a blank blogger screen over and over, willing the words to come, but they wouldn’t.  That isn’t like me.  I love writing.  I love blogging.  But when I’m not saying what’s on my mind, what’s on my heart, the words stop in my throat.  Because what’s the point then?  And that’s when I realized why the words wouldn’t come.  Because whatever I wrote wouldn’t have been real.

What happened to real life?  What happened to commiserating over our likenesses instead of competing over them?

I’m not going to tell you what to do.  That’s not my place.  But if I can, let me encourage you to take the pressure off.  Let yourself be authentic.  Find your voice and use it.

Okay.  So there it is.

Real life, people.

Real life.