“A fish is the last to know water.”
Sometimes the thing that is most natural to us is the thing least known. Since moving to New Zealand, I experienced my identity in new ways.
Cultural and language barriers made me feel alienated and inadequate.
My difference was the source of my shame. I struggled with my painfully reduced sense of self.
“I am not OK as I am.”
These painful experiences forced me to delve into what it really meant to “me.”
Both psychotherapy and Buddhism have been a vehicle for me to voyage through my journey of being myself.
Digging through the layers of my fears and insecurities, I realised that I was so afraid to be myself.
I have learned that in order to be fully present with someone, I have to bring every part of me including the weakness and limitations that I was covering up.
I am what I am! Don’t try to be someone else!
I found the courage to be myself in surrender to all of myself including the parts that I had previously pushed away or ignored.
From this, I arrived at a most profound revelation: Being able to be myself gives me so much joy of life!
There are so many individuals who have similar struggles. I know the pain of not being able to be oneself. So I want to share with people what has set me free and help them feel free and fulfilled.
My hope is to make the wisdom for being true to ourselves accessible for everyone. Many people still have a stigma that psychotherapy is for people with mental illness.
I believe what I have learned from psychotherapy should be life skills for us to have a fulfilling life.
So I have decided one thing – I share the practice for being true to ourselves with 1000 people.
I’ve set a concrete goal because part of me still wants to stay in the shadow! Having a goal helps me move forward.
I will share my process with you, both joy and struggle. Part of me wants to hide my “struggling” bits of journey and show only “successful” ones.
Yes I admit that I still doubt myself and am afraid to show up at times.
Being true to myself means to me that it is OK to show my anxious self. I find a way to express myself despite my inadequacy and fears.
I want to live true to myself in every aspect of my life including my work.
No more hiding!! I’ve committed to being all of myself, both positive and negative, joyful and in pain, confident and unsure.
I want to build a kind of world where each of us feels truly happy in being ourselves, and allow the other person to be who they are.
I can achieve this only through finding my voice. It is scary but remains impossible if I stay hiding behind my fear of being seen.
To start off, I will write what I am doing, my thoughts and reflections towards my upcoming seminar on Psychology, Buddhism and a Fulfilling Life on the 15th October 2017.
It is my wish that my journey invites you to set out for your journey of becoming yourself.
