“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith
in yourself, do not go out and look for a
successful personality and duplicate it.” ~Bruce
Lee



I have always been timid when it comes to
expressing myself, speaking my mind, and standing
up for something. This stems from being raised in a
culture where showing emotions is frowned upon.
Nothing I ever did seemed good enough. There was
constant criticism that I could do better, and be
better. I was raised to never to talk back to my
seniors and not to say anything when I had nothing
nice to say.
So, I’ve always played it safe and stood by the
sideline, and I never wanted to rock the boat. And
sometimes, when I’ve felt like saying something, I’ve
wondered if people would even care.
Because, frankly, sometimes people talk just for the
sake of talking or because they want attention, and
that bothered me. However, I also envied those who
could just say what they think and speak their truth,
even though I may or may not have agreed with
them.
Nonetheless, as years passed, the more I stayed
mummed, the more horrible my body and mind felt.

Eventually, I became depressed. I felt like no one
cared, I didn’t know who I should be, and I felt lost.
Not wanting to blame the past anymore, I knew I
needed to find something to take me away from this
darkness.

Along the way, I found Bodytalk and yoga, and these
were the things that helped me get out of my
depression and helped shift my mindset. As I became
more engaged with these activities, my inner voice
grew stronger and stronger, and it wanted to come
out and express itself.


I began to accept myself for who I am, and soon,
much like Katy Perry, I was ready for the world to
hear me “Roar.”



The Problem
It took me forever to express myself in both writing
and speaking because I felt like I had to craft the
perfect message to sound smart, funny, and
diplomatic. By the time I was ready to share my
thoughts, the conversation topic had gone, and the
moment had passed.
Yes, it’s great to be thoughtful but Come on! I would
tell myself. Stop bottling up your thoughts and start
expressing yourself without care.
I’ve learned to nurture my voice and not spend so
much time crafting my message and worrying about
what others think.
These are the three philosophies that have helped
me get out of my head, let go, and start expressing
myself.




1. The only person you need to impress is yourself.
Yes, it’s scary to put yourself out there to have people
judge you. But if you know who you are and what you
stand for, does it matter what others think, when you
know your truth and what it means to you?
The truth is, if you are comfortable in your own skin,
what others think of you probably won’t bother you
that much. After all, you will always have people who
will be for you or against you, so why not stand for
something and just be you? What’s the worst thing
that could happen?

“In the end people will judge you anyway, don’t live
your life impressing others. Live your life impressing
yourself.” ~from Raw for Beauty



2. Stand for something.
This is important. It allows you to let your personality
shine. It is also the foundation of your values, which
help shape your identity, allowing people to connect
with you, enabling you to surround yourself with like-
minded people for support.
Remember, no man is an island, as John Donne
wrote. We, as human beings, need to interact with
another and need each other to find fulfillment in our
lives. So stand for something to build your world of
lovers and ‘haters,’ instead of having no supporters
or challengers to help you grow.


3. Let go of the outcome.
Sometimes we say things or do things because we
want to get a certain reaction or action out of people.
However, keeping in mind we have no control over
anything in life (except for our actions and our
responses), why not speak your truth?
Your body and mind will be grateful because you are
being honest with yourself. In the end, whatever
happens, you’ve got nothing to lose because you have
honored your truth. No regrets.


“Say what you wanna say, and let the words fall out. I
wanna see you be brave.” ~Sara Bareilles, Brave