do you know who you really are?

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Do you have a strong hold on your identity, and who you are? Do you always act like yourself, or do you feel pressure to fake it, and act in a way that will please others? Do you ever feel like you have lost track of who the "real you" is?

I don't think I know who I really am. I find myself believing my own lies.

Super-aware here.

Tim

same here. i don't even know what it is that makes me happy anymore, what i want to do. i've wasted so much time trying to do what others want me to do, or what i thought they wanted me to do, though i think i may have often been wrong even on my assumptions. i don't know what people want, but i've lost myself the more i try. the less i care about the things i used to care about, the things that i wanted to do just for the sake i liked doing them, the less of a person i become. i'm just as weird as i've always been, the only difference is now i am weird and not happy. i often try to convince myself that i like the things that i do now that i do bc they seem acceptable. believing my own lies.

Not really, but I have the feeling I know myself better than others do their selves.

I always feel like I know who I am and what I believe in, but have been proven wrong from time to time.

I'm a Bus Lover. Always have been, always will be. I'm being serious, buy the way.

I know who I really am. I just don't want to admit it, sometimes.

I've been wrong about who I am so many times, I don't dare even guessing at it any more.

I feel I have a reasonable grasp on who I am making slight changes depending on the occasion.

I am super-aware of all aspects of my personhood. I know me full in full out.

It'd be easier to know who I am if I didn't always wear metaphorical masks for different groups of people in order to try to fit in better.

Ive not known who i am since about age 7.

That was when i realised I had to pretend to be normal in front of everyone to avoid constant pain and to survive.

Had to change my mask again at age 18 when i joined navy. That was dead easy as they tell you exactly how you are supposed to behave so you just have to practice again and again so you can get it right.

Very hard work I find, pretending to be something your not while trying to do a full time job as well.

Hence Im messed up now. And im fed up of pretending. The world can accept me for who i really am or they can all F*** off!!

I know myself, I just don't like myself.

Yes. Need a context to define myself according to or against-can't describe self well especially in a vacuum. Rely on being able to compare & contrast self with others, as being more or less "like me".

Yes. I may think I'm great one minute & think I'm awful the next, but I'm still the same in my skills/abilities-there is no other "self" occupying "me". My emotions/mood dip often-my tastes & preferences, likes & dislikes are unswerving.

Yes. There's limits to my behavior which I don't exceed, but within that there's a range.

Yes but I tell the people how I wish I weren't so unhappy because I don't want to depress them.

Yes but I still do what I do, all the while apologizing profusely.

No, though my inconsistencies trouble me.
Depends on environment/setting: Whether I'm alone (most authentic to self) or out in public around strangers (feel most alienated from myself). When w/one of the few close persons in my life, I can express aspects of myself that find no outlet when I'm alone-they hold onto complete view of me that I can't simultaneously maintain. Sometimes I get "stuck" and the pressure of another person (my reacting to their reaction instead of devoting resources to initial problem) is suddenly unwelcome.

I do, but I don't assume I really understand myself prefectly. I'm still learning. But I've always been "super aware" of my own "personhood" as long as I can remember - it's at time been a blessing, and at other times, a source of profound alienation.



I at like myself by default. I do feel pressure to behave otherwise, since my "default settings" tend to rub others the wrong way, or at least go against the status quo. But I don't feel pressure from within myself to "fake it." I don't naturally think that I should change my beahvior ot fit in, although my difficulties with fitting in has often caused me to be reflective and ask questions. But that's not the same as thinking I ought to pretend I'm someone I'm not.



Etiquette yes. Kissing a**, no. Etiquette is simply a code of behavior that eases social interaction. It has nothing to do with violating one's personhood or inherent dignity. Kissing a**, however does. Unfortunately, while etiquette should be enought o get by in the world, many times I have found myself in a situation where I was expected to kiss someone's a**. And as I often say, I have no talent for kissing a**, and I've often suffered the consequences for that.



At times, I've felt disconnected with who and what I am. At times I've felt insignificiant or a failure, struggling to see myself in a positive light. I've struggling with self-esteem (i.e., liking myself) and with self-confidence. But I don't recall ever not feeling like a "person." I have always felt a strong sense that there's a "core truth" to who I am, and that it's real. I've been through a lot too - neglect, abuse, self-destructive behavior, addiction, PTSD, depression, social rejection and alienation. I have had my moments of darkness and doubt. But I have always bounced back, and always from something within myself that tells me to keep on fighting, because I deserve to be happy, because "they" don't have the right to beat me down. I have what shrinks may call "self-authentication" - an inner conviction of one's own self worth. i'm nto sure where I got that, and there have been times I've felt disconnected from that. But I have it, and it seem whatever this life throws at me, I can't lose it.

I'm still very young. I know lots of things about me-both good and bad-but I'm still finding out things about myself. And yes,I WILL sdmit that I tried being like "everyone else".I tried being straight,tried being Christian,tried dressing "preppy",and even trying to change my personality. But I was unhappy. I soon started to be myself. I became happy-but NOT completely-and I made some friends. I'm more reserved around some people than others,but nowadays I NEVER pretend to be something I'm not. But,like I said,I don't know EVERYTHING there is to know about me yet...mainly because of my age and I'm still learning.


-SpaceCase