No Me: Individuality as part of identity
In a society in which one is expected to fit the masses, maintaining individuality can be a difficult task. It is also, however, a vital task for the identity of an individual. In the world, there are people who simply follow the pack, and then there are those people who strive to lead and be their own people. The first group of people is lost in the confusion of life; They try to integrate, and succeed, making them almost invisible. The second group, however, demands the respect of society and, ultimately, better understand its identity. While individuality is respected, spending your life trying to be like other people will make you lose sight of who you really are. Indeed, individuality is similar to leadership, while conformity is similar to being a follower.
A person who is an individual has several key characteristics. One of them is his mentality, which seems to say: ‘Accept me as I am. If you can’t do that, then it’s you who is missing, not me ’. By maintaining this attitude, people never feel that they should try to impress anyone or act in a way that another person would do it to please them. A second characteristic of the individual is self-confidence. The individual is satisfied with who he is, and that is enough for them. The individual is not ashamed of the unique defects and aspects of him and, therefore, he can often use these things in a positive way. In addition, the trust that individuals have in themselves demands the same type of trust and respect of those around them.
Sometimes an actor may be so immersed in a role that he will "become" his character. Similarly, people who spend their lives trying to adapt to a mold end up losing their identity. They work hard to suppress their own thoughts and desires in order to fit, and, finally, they simply forget these thoughts and desires. When every thought in a person’s head is counteracted by a little voice that says: ‘Will that make me look stupid?’Or‘ that’s what everyone else thinks?’The person begins to unconsciously question everything he thinks. The result is that the thoughts that are finally expressed (if they do) have gone through a series of revisions and are not the true thoughts of the person at all. If a person constantly reviews his thoughts in this way, his own true thoughts become superfluous for him, allowing his identity to slide between his fingers like the sand through a strainer.
As your individuality is an important part of the maintenance of your identity, you must take measures to improve your attitude towards yourself. First, you must recognize, admit and even embrace your defects. This will help you learn to love yourself for who you are, instead of feeling insecure so you are not. Next, you must conclude that what you think of yourself is much more important than others think. Finally, you must develop confidence in yourself and your ideas and find courage to express them. You should never be afraid of being yourself, because life is too short to be as others want you to be.
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