Being True to Who We Are
Our focus this week — Oct 15-22: “Self-Acceptance”
Today’s MotD: Being True to Who We Are. Probably the most challenging thing we can do is to be true to who we are. One would think that that would/should be the easiest thing. And maybe it is…when we’re alone in what we determine to be a safe environment (which for me was down in the finished basement of my childhood home). But even then, maybe we weren’t true there either. I know that while I was doing my thing in that basement (usually an art or craft project), there was always the “threat” of someone coming downstairs which meant I had to put on some “face” other than my own to maintain safety.
So why wouldn’t we be true to who we are ? Well it depends on how much influence we allow (and have allowed) others (people, family, friends, society, workplace, etc) to have over us. A clue would be noticing how we are in different scenarios: casual party, fancy dinner, staff meeting at work, home alone with kids, on vacation, neighborhood potluck, crowded room, out in nature, and so on.
Maybe our biggest challenge is determining who we really are at our very core, especially if we’ve been people pleasers all our lives. That was me up until I began therapy in my late 20s. I was so lost that I struggled to know what I wanted because I just felt it was safer to let everyone else get what they wanted rather than risk judgment, criticism, or even sometimes anger from others expressing when I expressed what I wanted.
To this day (I’m in my 70s), I catch myself being other than myself when I’m around certain people or in certain situations. Even when I know I am safe, I tend to be on guard. (Yes, some or a lot of that may be from childhood PTSD). When I catch myself super tense (alert mode), I take a deep breath, remind myself that I’m safe in this situation, and ease the tightness in my stomach, jaw, and shoulders. I also find repeating the mantra “I am safe” quietly to myself also helps.
The main message today encourages us to not only know who we are but to be true to who we are. So we’re encouraged to make that deep dive into who and what we’re all about. We can start by looking at what’s important to us, what we value internally and externally. From this place we can work towards self-acceptance and being true to who we are.
BTW…It seems fitting that puzzle piece number 1 was picked for today’s MotD because knowing who we are, being true to who we are needs to be our number 1 priority…or at least in the top three.
How about you ? Do you catch yourself being different from who you truly are when you’re around certain people ? Do you catch yourself being different from who you truly are based on certain situations ? Maybe the better question might be, are you able to be true to who you are ?
BTW…Here’s the before…the front and back view of today’s puzzle piece and the pretty ceramic box that holds all my numbers from which I randomly choose each day’s puzzle piece number:
Peace & Blessings,
Maureen
The Mandala Lady
Creating Mandalas 🔆 Awakening Inner Harmony
ABOUT THE 2025 Mandalas of the Day
Throughout the year, I’ll be building one large (48”x48”) Tibetan-styled Mandala one piece at a time…one puzzle piece at a time, that is. The mandala design and the reversed puzzle side were printed on artist-quality watercolor paper. The forward facing puzzle side was printed on a 48”x48” wood panel.
Each day, at random, I’ll be painting in watercolors one of the 365 watercolor puzzle pieces, that by the end of the year will become Archangel Mandala #4. Read more about the Archangel Series. The word/message for each piece will be inspired by Melody Beattie’s book “52 Weeks of Conscious Contact”.
Ultimately, the message of this mandala is about how we are all uniquely part of the one.
Mandala of the Day 