Being happy and content in one’s own skin, at work, at home and with family, should be a goal for everyone. It may be harder than it sounds, though.
Do you always feel like people think they know who you really are? Do you have different “personas” for different areas of your life? Do people at work view you one way, and your family another?
I don’t think there is any right or wrong answer necessarily, unless you feel conflicted or dishonest, like the writer of this Boston song “A Man I’ll Never Be.”
He felt that his significant other viewed him differently than he thought himself to be, and that he could never live up to her expectations.
There is a contrast between striving to be someone “better” and “pretending” to be someone you could never actually be. The first is an example of trying to improve oneself; the second is creating a false reality. The latter is where problems and conflicts come in.
Is there fear that, if you change your behavior to become more at peace with yourself, the people around you won’t like you as much as before? That might be a reasonable consideration to think about.
Being introspective and considering any gap between who you really feel you “are” and how you act with your friends, family and coworkers, can help lead you to a thoughtful answer.
It sure doesn’t hurt to give it a little thought, does it?
