09/25/2022
So grateful for the invitation to write this piece for the POI e-newsletter, and for everyone who's taught me about the importance of being Who You Are in the world!
"Why the World Needs You to Be Yourself"
- Chris Johnson
One of my many delightful memories as a dad is of a brief encounter one of our kids had at the entry gate to the State Fair a number of years ago. Our son, Josiah, who was maybe 10 or so at the time, happened to be wearing a t-shirt that day with the question emblazoned across the front: Who does the world need you to be? The ticket-taker paused in his repetitive task long enough to take note of Josiah’s shirt, gave a quick nod of appreciation, and asked, “So, what’s your answer to that question? Who does the world need you to be?” Without missing a beat, Josiah placed his open palm against his chest and gleefully proclaimed, “Myself!”
I so loved that answer, both for the content it contained and the exuberant, unselfconscious spirit with which it was delivered. Without at all being arrogant or boastful, Josiah – at least in that moment – knew that he mattered, that precisely because he was who he was he would make a difference to others.
And here’s the thing: the world really does need Josiah, and me – and you. Each of us, all of us. The needs and hungers of the world remind us every moment that we’re all in this together, and we have work to do. The billions of particularities of our daily lives call us to show up as the people we are, in whatever places and roles and relationships we inhabit, and to offer what we can.
But why be yourself? Why does the world need you to be Who You Are? Here are some suggestions, for starters:
1) It’s no small or easy thing to “be yourself.” But as adage goes, who else are you going to be? Everyone else is already taken. The invitation here is to punch through the cliché and mine more deeply for the truth beneath the surface…one aspect of which might be that “being yourself” liberates you from the debilitating pressure to try to be someone other than who you are, even (or perhaps especially) if that’s “only” a matter of trying to become the person you think you ought to be.
2) When we are fully and authentically ourselves, that leaves room for others to be themselves – and for each of us to honor the ties that inextricably bind us together and that in fact make us who we are. None of us can do it all, and none of us can go it alone – nor should we try. In fact, “being truly and fully myself” means that I’ll be more connected with others, not less, since who I am is always a matter of relationship and interdependence.
3) Each of us is a distinctive blend of experiences, gifts, learnings, passions, flaws, questions, failures, genes, limitations and possibilities that’s simply too rare and precious to squander. Each of us is a story that weaves into a larger Story, a thread that contributes to the Tapestry, a voice in the Choir, a part of the Body.
4) When we show up as our whole selves, we’re able to be both more permeable and receptive to the world around us, and better able to respond and contribute. Picture hands that are open rather than balled into fists – or better yet, actually practice those postures and notice how each feels.
5) When we’re being fully and truly ourselves, we’re better able to discern and live into our callings – all the places in our daily lives where who we are and who the world needs us to be intersect. Being yourself includes being true to yourself: honoring your gifts and talents by seeking ways to put them to positive use, affirming your core values by manifesting them in practice, unleashing your passions in the service of something meaningful, acknowledging your flaws and failures as crucibles for becoming better, inhabiting your roles and relationships with vitality and vision, nourishing and being nourished by the shimmering tapestry of connections by which we are all woven together.
The world needs you to be yourself because the world needs you to be called – to live out the deep truth of Who You Are in ways that make a positive difference for others.
For reflection:
What does it mean for you to “be yourself?” Who are you, really?
What are among your callings in life? How are they expressions of who you most truly are?
What frightens or bothers you about the idea of “being yourself?” What delights or energizes you about the idea of “being yourself?”
How might you practice becoming more fully yourself?
