Content With Yourself

Being content with yourself doesn’t require arrogance, feeling smug, or patting yourself on the back for being such a great person. In actuality, people may have a harder time enjoying themselves compared to people who easily think too highly of themselves. Either way, life isn’t being lived properly if we don’t have a proper perspective on who we are and how we fit into the bigger picture. There is a healthy boundary point between arrogance and contentment.

Enjoying yourself means you respect who you, the natural talents that you have, and you’re the personality. We will struggle if we value someone else’s personality, skills, and abilities over our own. Those who tend to be shyer than others may feel less valuable in comparison to the extrovert who effortlessly socializes with others. An artistic person may feel less appreciative of his or her own talents when he or she sees how socially validated and popular those who are more athletically inclined are. It’s all a relative context. If you can’t appreciate yourself, then no one’s validation will feel like it’s enough.

For a long time, I had a hard time accepting my naturally introverted personality. I wanted to be popular, be admired, and all those external validations that come with being in the limelight. I used to force myself to make eye contact, be extra positive, and more talkative. After getting worn out trying to be someone else, I realized that I had never paid much attention to what benefits could be found within my personality – naturally.

When I finally allowed myself to be shy, and accept my deeply sensitive nature, I realized that being popular or funny wasn’t what I needed, or what the world needed from me. I’m able to contribute and love others more effectively when I’m being myself. Perhaps I mistakenly thought that in order to be effective, I needed to bring as much attention to myself as possible.

In all reality, God created each of us exactly as He wanted. This is tremendously helpful when are learning how to respect ourselves. Imagine a world full of outgoing, loud extroverts. It would be exhausting and everyone would be constantly arguing their own opinions. Now imagine a world in which everyone was a great athlete, and art was less valued – the world would be deprived of imagination and the soul wouldn’t have an outlet of deep expression.

As long as we have love in our hearts and trust in God’s purpose for our lives, we are free to be ourselves without regret. Our unique personalities cannot be judged by a single characteristic. Everyone has weakness and everyone has strengths. Our value isn’t contingent upon the traits we have because what may be perceived as a weakness may actually be a strength.

Have you noticed that those who become most popular happen to become popular because they were true to themselves? Copycats fail to understand that unique individuality is the backbone of success. Instead of being jealous, we would benefit from appreciating what others have brought into the world for us. Instead of jumping on that same train and working to re-create something popular, perhaps we could do something entirely different. The world could benefit more from 2 individuals doing something unique rather than 2 people doing that exact same thing.

There’s something interesting, humbling, and fun about those people who are actually comfortable with their shortcomings. People who love to laugh hard, be silly in public, and embarrass themselves. It’s a fresh reminder that we are all imperfectly perfect and God loves us apart from those imperfections. It’s the way the world works – if we we’re perfect, then we wouldn’t need God. God has given us a choice with what we do with our talents and who we are. What will you do with your unique talents and personalities?

For further related reading, please check out: The Days of Past.