This week, lying in bed, I felt this horrible tinge of guilt for being me. I talk too much, I don't listen, I seem too hyper, or in a state of mania. I need to stop talking. I need to stop being animated. I need to be less hyper. I need to calm down, be quiet, and sit still. That’s what I’ll do. God knows what people think of me. I wonder what they  think of me, really. What if they think I’m crazy? I’m nuts. That’s it, I’ll be quiet. Practice being quiet and calm. No more funny jokes, no more blurting. Quiet. Still. Calm. That’s what I’ll do.

Then, it occurred to me. Why am I feeling like this? What the heck is wrong with me? I shouldn’t feel guilty for being me. If I stop talking, be quiet, and quit being so excited, someone will think I’m sick. They will ask me, “Are you mad at me?” They will want to know, “Did I do something wrong?” I remembered her words and the advice she had given. “Be the best YOU there is and you can’t go wrong.”

I decided to take that advice for a spin. But what does it mean exactly? Maybe you apologize or criticize yourself for your personality, the way you look, the way you think, or the way you act. Are you are trying to fit in? Or do you feel ashamed or are uncomfortable in your own skin?

Being the best YOU you can be means recognizing, capitalizing, and above all accepting the person that you are. This acceptance should be regardless of stereotypes, inconsistencies, and inadequate feelings you have of yourself. Just accepting and allowing yourself to become comfortable in your own person and not caring what someone else thinks of you. Be you and be proud. Stand for that which you wish to stand. Be who you want and need to be. Don’t spend your time on the process of fitting in. That is robbing those around you the experience of getting to know you and all that you represent.

Start by defining who you really are: your look, your personality, your likes/dislikes, and values. Then, and only then, will you know if you are being the best YOU. You can’t go wrong here. You are the only one that can make these definitions because only you know the true person that you are. No one can judge you. They can choose to like it or not like it, but they can’t fault you because only you know the standard at which you are being the best YOU that there is.

Put that standard into practice. Every morning when you get up, be the best YOU that you can be. Instead of thinking you’re fat, you’re silly, you talk too much, you have funny looking feet, you are shy, you are having a bad hair day — just be the best YOU there is and go with it!