We all have personal struggles that we have chosen to ignore. There comes a time that we must stop perpetrating a fraud. Yes, we are the great pretenders, we often pretend because we want to be a part of the group. We let people laugh at us, make jokes about us, and we even join in, just to fit in. However, instead of fitting in, we end up going home with our secrets, with our pain, feeling abandoned, empty, and sick. It is time for us to love ourselves, with all of our issues, because, there can be no relief, no liberation or healing until we take off the mask and deal with the person behind it.

The truth is, most of us live empty lives when we don’t accept ourselves for who we are. Life is empty because we are not living it for us, we are living it for everyone else. There comes a time that we must become our fist priority, not worrying about who we will disappoint. Not trying to desperately fit into a society that has been taught to hate us. Not trying to please friends and family just to prove our value.

The true you is buried deep within your mountain of guilt, shame, and doubt, amid the mess of tears, and dark truths. Stop pretending long enough, to experience your true freedom and that freedom comes in you being you. You must be prepared to have your heart ripped opened so that the healing process can begin. It might be scary, ugly, confusing, and difficult, but, there comes a time when you can no longer hide behind your masterful façade and the truth. Stop living a cheap imitation of what and who you really are. Stop pretending and embrace that powerful person, that you were created to be and that is the liberate, the healed, the free, you. – It’s Just a Thought – Paul Steven Smith (Uncle Paul) www.unclepaulsthoughts.com

Uncle Paul’s Tweetable Thought: “There can be no shame or guilt in that which has been confessed. Your healing is in the wounds that you have yet shared. Our deepest fears are not in our darkness, but, in our light, our truth, that will someday shine bright.” – Paul Steven Smith (Uncle Paul) www.unclepaulsthoughts.com