I saw this quote on-line somewhere and decided to save it - "It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are." - E.E. Cummings

It seems to pair nicely with one that I saved from the Jack's Winning Words blog - "The thing about chameleoning your way through life is that it gets to where nothing is real." (John Green)

Too many young people try to chameleon their way through life, emulating the look and life of their favorite rock or movie star or maybe just someone else at their school or in their circle of friends. Some fear being unpopular of they allow others to see them as they really are or maybe they just don't think who they really are is very interesting. It takes a while for the young, or any of us, to discover and understand themselves. It may take even longer to accept that understanding and have the courage to be who we really are.

Another quote that I've had hanging around for quite some time seems appropriate to this post - "If the shoe doesn't fit, must we change the foot?"  Gloria Steinem

Obviously, the foot is who you really are and the shoe is who you have been trying to be (or to be like). You must have the courage to be who you really are and to learn to love being that person. I've posted here a few times on loving yourself, which means loving who you are. If you can't love who you've become, work on becoming a better you, someone that you can love, not on trying to be like someone else.

So, stop being a chameleon, get real and summon up the courage to be who you really are. You'll feel better about yourself and I think you'll find that others feel better about you, too. Those "friends" who only liked the person that you were pretending to be weren't really your friends at all. You will find new friends who are attracted to and like the person you really are, and they are your true friends.

Grow up and be you.

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