I know it is cliche, but I don't care. I'm not perfect. Far from it. Ask anyone who knows me and I am sure they will happily confirm it for you.
I'm happy to be a work in progress though. I spent the better part of a decade pretending to be the picture of perfection--my personal picture of perfection. What I learned from that was: I want to do whatever I can to ensure I don't do it again.
I don't know where my journey is going, but I do know I am moving FORWARD. I don't have to share every personal detail about my life, here or on social media. What I will share is the positive lesson I have painfully learned.
Ready for another cliche? Be you. That's it. Be the real you, not the idealized version of you. If you lose yourself, no one else will help you find it? No one. Only you know who you really are. If you change because of outside circumstances, you may find it hard to get it back.
You will lose it. Maybe not today, tomorrow or next year, but at some point those people or things are not going to be in your life anymore--for whatever the reason.
The point is, we all end up with ourselves. WE are the only constant in our own lives. We are the only ones there throughout our entire life for every moment, every thought, every experience.
My point isn't to be a downer. It is simply--be the authentic you. No matter who or what it is, don't live for anything else. Always be present for you. You deserve that.
Be well... for you!