Have you ever had a conversation with someone you don’t know that well and you find yourself being more of who you REALLY are. Maybe because you know there is no judgement since they know nothing about you. Maybe you feel like you can let your guard down or just be how you want to be seen.

This then brings up some interesting thoughts or ideas. There is how we see ourselves, how others see us and how we want to be seen. Differentiating between these points are important as they are not at all the same.

A few years ago I went to the Power Athlete Symposium. It was in Austin, Texas. I flew from Toronto, Canada by myself and arrived at the event by myself not knowing a single soul. It was an incredible weekend and I met some really amazing people. I was in the middle of the hardest year of my life when I attended and I could even say it was the lowest point of my life. I felt like shit, I was exhausted, but I left feeling connected to new people in just one short weekend.

I have kept in touch with a few other these people. One thing that I notice is that while I may have met them at a point where I felt the most down I was still able to paint my own picture to them. Was it false? No not really, but I know that I often feel comfortable with strangers because I don’t have to pretend to be anything or anyone that I don’t want to be. So I would say that I paint or present my true self. Or more accurately I am able to be open and be how I want to be seen.

How we see ourselves is a bit like muddy water because I think it gets dirtied by the fact that we are making a story up of how we think others see us which then makes us see ourselves in an altered way. How others see us may not always be shared to us so it quite possibly could remain an unknown. And then how we want to be seen is, in my opinion difficult with people that have known us the longest because they are not always willing to see the growth, changes or new versions of ourselves. Sometimes they still see us as the old versions whereas a new person is seeing the HOW we want to be seen because we really don’t risk the judgement from them.

Today I was chatting with one of the guys that I met. He and his wife are expecting a baby so I was asking how is wife is feeling and when the baby is due. During our conversation I mentioned that I have been doing more writing and he commented that he didn’t know I liked writing. On one hand, how could he know when most of what we have in common is gym stuff, working out and coaching. On the other hand it was funny that I have no problem telling him that I have committed to writing a blog post every day for a year – yet am reluctant to share it with those in my daily life.

I don’t have a logical explanation for this other than I feel less inclined to share what I’m doing when I think someone isn’t that interested. I also am not seeking approval. I could say that this has probably always been an undiscovered passion and as I step into this new version of myself I suppose that I am aware not everyone will get it.

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment”.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson