Keeping it real

Who are we really? In this online world that we live in, so many of us project an image that just looks glorious and all happy, all the time.

Even here at Bringing Back Awesome, it’s part of our mission to bring some positivity to your life every single day.

But is that who we really are? Do we really feel that awesome every single day?

I just read the most amazing article called The Dangers of Image Crafting, and I highly recommend that you read it before continuing with the rest of this blog post. It’s just that good.

I’ll wait…

Ok, did you read it?

Good stuff, eh?

So to answer the questions I posed above about Denise and me and our outlooks on life, yes, we are positive people, and yes, we do believe in what we talk about here. And we live it as best as we can.

But the part that you may not see is that many of the things we talk about here and the conclusions we draw are based on how we talk ourselves (or each other) out of the bad moments or the bad days.

Nobody’s life is all wonderful and rosy all the time.

I mean, except for mine. It’s perfect and awesome.

Kidding.

So often, as an online society, we do project an image. An image of happiness. An image of being pulled perfectly together. An image of always being able to deal with your problems maturely. An image of lollipops and rainbows. An image of complete contentment. An image of perfection.

It’s not to say that we need to air all of our dirty laundry all of the time, but perhaps a reality check is occasionally in order. Sometimes we just need to keep it real.

So in the spirit of keeping it real, today I’m sharing some of my dirty little secrets…

1. I frequently lose my patience with one of my two kids. Yup. Just one. One of them really pushes my buttons a lot more than the other. Leads to occasional motherguilt.
2. Napping is one of my favorite past times. I’d probably get a helluva lot farther in life if I didn’t nap as frequently, but I’m often tired or overwhelmed and I succumb to a delicious nap.
3. I get overwhelmed relatively easily. See #2.
4. When my blood sugar is low, I get sad. Or mean. Neither is my natural state, but it happens.
5. Occasionally I struggle with what I lovingly refer to as downward spirals. When one negative thought leads to another, and before you know it I’m feeling like my entire life sucks. Sometimes due to #4. So I’ve learned to ask myself if I need food. And if that’s not the answer, I’ve learned to phone a friend. No need to keep spiraling.
6. Even though I know I need to and that it’s part of a healthy lifestyle, exercise does not come easily to me. I have to force myself. And a lot of times I just don’t.
7. Sometimes I get lonely. It’s hard being a single parent without a partner to rely on or talk to.
8. Despite going out with more guys in my mid-forties than I ever went out with in my twenties, I still haven’t found Mr. Right. Really haven’t even found Mr. Right Now. Probably because I’m picky. Really picky. But at this point, I think that picky is good.
9. I’m fiercely independent. And I need a lot of space. Probably part of the reason for #8. Not everyone can handle that.
10. As a creative person, I need a lot of time and space to come up with all of my allegedly brilliant ideas. A lot of “think” time. In other words, time spent sitting around and daydreaming. Takes me a longer than most people to take action. That’s why I’m best as part of a team, where I’m the idea person and the other person is the doer. But they need to do it just right. My way. Lol.

So that’s some of the unpublished part of who I am. There’s even more that I’m not willing to share publicly here. But all a part of what makes me the unique individual that I am.

Plus there’s the part who thinks up ways to make my life and your life more awesome. A lot of times in response to numbers 1-10 above, when I’m feeling down or like I’m just not getting where I want or need to be in life.

Who are you? What are your dirty little secrets?

Are you ready to keep it real? Join in the honest fun and wipe away some of the online image crafting. Why not share some of your dirty little secrets in the comments?