No Bluff In Enough

Our need to belong, to feel part of something greater than ourselves, is never more clearly demonstrated than in our desperation to categorise.

We all feel the pressure to fit into pre-defined boxes; to comply; to compromise; to conform.

There are basic societal expectations. Rules have been put in place to protect us from ourselves.

But beyond that lies a gang mentality; the need to declare ourselves as one thing or another in order to fit in with one group or another.

The need for acceptance is driven by the fear of loneliness. And the fear of loneliness is powered by the belief that we – as and of the person we are – is insufficient.

To be enough we add and accept. We bolster the person we are by taking on board the expectations of others.

The problem is that expectations often come with demands and those demands can include the need to reject and rebuild.

It’s in the reconstruction that we can lose sight of the person we are often long before we have a clear picture of the person we want to be.

The world around us can rob us of our identity and leave us confused and without direction. That, then, is at the heart of loneliness.

No-one knows the person we are better than the person we are. But if categorisation robs us of our own self-definition we can be left with confusion and mental anguish.

It’s important that we choose our own place in society and not necessarily accept the position that time and circumstance dictates.

We can always be more but we are always enough.