As I was cruising around in my Jeep yesterday, enjoying this beautiful spring-like day here on the Jersey Shore, I did what most of us do when we get spring fever – I cranked up the tunes.
Lucky for me, my Sirius Satellite radio was kicking into high gear from the Stones to the Talking Heads on my drive to nowhere. (Yes, I am caught in a time warp of 70 and 80′s music thanks to stations such as Classic Rewind) However, as I made my way cruisin’ down by the beach, I heard some lyrics that have been playing over and over in my mind that I wanted to share with you.
Thinking along the lines of the content to blogs (that touch base on a life lesson or two) how many of us really show our “true colors?”
Really. I was thinking about this when I ventured over to some mellow rock station during my mid-day joy ride. As I was attempting to expand my hard-rock horizons, I heard Cyndi Lauper so eloquently tell her story as to how to let it all hang out. This really struck a note with me (no pun intended).
Hmm.. Did Cyndi know something that I didn’t know? Then I started thinking, as we get older, our push and pull with ourselves begins. Think of this as a modern day fighting match with two of you. (Think Animal House with the devil and an angel on your shoulder but the PG version.) There are two fighters. Fighter Number One – “who you think you should be” versus Fighter Number Two ” who represents who you are”.
Now, this could be the match of your life if you don’t start to recognize this battle of you against you. Who wins? It’s up to you to decide.
For some, this can be liberating experience with a “take me as I am” approach. For others, this just encourages more of the mentality of the better I look, the more I have, do, and appear to be, well, I guess, you could say the better I feel. I like to call this the “Jane Jetson” state of being. Remember the Jetsons’ cartoon back in the 70′s?
I was fascinated by the sci-fi approach mixed with a Scooby-Doo feel for this Saturday morning cartoon. Too many times, as Jane Jetson used to do, and many of us still do (metaphorically speaking), we put up our mask when someone wants to chat via facetime. And, to take this a step further, think about all the masks we have as well as use when bouts of our insecurity creep up during our real time of our daily lives.
We get so caught up into the game of worrying about what others see, that we start to forget to see what WE see and what is truly there when we look in the mirror. Our vision gets more blurry as our lives progress and we start to become a reflection of what we think others see in us, and not who we truly are.
It’s as if we are on an “anti-authentic” campaign.
When is it okay and to embrace us for who we are – warts, wrinkles, receding hairlines (as well as bank accounts) and all?
I was thinking the other day about the aging process. Now, most of us, or at least I do, want to fight it tooth and nail with everything we got (within reason). My boot camp on the anti aging campaign consists of trips to Deans Market to go as organic and gluten free as I can, to a rather pricey membership to a gym (when I should be realistically running outside for free) to the latest skin creams slathered on my face twice daily.
Now, when is it okay, or dare I say, better than okay, to simply say, enough already!?
Shouldn’t we be training or embracing the thought of aging and acceptance in our minds as we get older, instead of dreaming of a nip, tuck or new Lexus to make us happy?
For me, true colors represent the rainbow of our lives. It is composed of the history that makes us who we are and the ability to take ownership of our crow’s feet and laugh lines, broken relationships and career failures.
For each bump we take or hurdle we jump, comes an ownership that only we can have, and no one else. And for that, we all should be proud. There is no better prism, in my book, as to the colors that each and every one of us has and the history that creates it.
I think there comes a time when we need to be gentler with ourselves, especially during times of change, to accept our authenticity and embrace that rainbow of our lives. That is what makes us who we are. And, it is so important to surround ourselves with people who encourage this state of authenticity.
For today, think about the components that make you unique from everyone else.
It could be anything – your kindness towards strangers, your love of animals, or the way your eyes light up when you hear a funny joke. No one has those true colors of yours. Embrace them. Own them and at the end of the day, know that your light, I am sure, has been shared with many people who love and respect you for the wonderful person you are.
As for me, I can’t help but to imagine what Cyndi Lauper would do if she saw Mrs. Jetson hide behind her mask held up by a lollipop stick. For some reason, I think she would grab Jane’s hand, throw that mask into the trash and go out and have some fun. Because, in the end, isn’t that what girls do?
Go ahead, follow your rainbow and show your true colors. Be the you that you were meant to be!
Keep the faith,
Patti
