What Does Simply Do You Mean?

“Simply do you? What does that mean?”
“What does simply doing you mean to you?”
“… that I do whatever I want to.”

I’ve had the conversation many times and I’m always amused at the furrowed brows I see when I reply with, “How often does what you want to do support who you are?”

So what does simply do you mean?

Who are You?

At your core are very simple truths. You like dancing, are easily bored, like oysters on the half shell, feel sexy in shades of green, have no desire to skydive… you complete the list. This is the who of You. Your essence. This part of you evolves, yet never completely changes. Let’s say it’s like the pit in a peach possessing the power to give birth to any possibility you can manage to imagine.

What do you believe?

Surrounding the pit of the peach is the flesh – a complex system that is the byproduct of what you believe about who You are. When you’re simply doing You, the flesh is a natural extension of your core – ripe with potential from the thoughts and ideas that have sprung from the who of You. When you’re honoring your core, your flesh is most attractive, juicy and delicious.

When your core isn’t aligned with your flesh, you’re stuck honoring other people’s opinions about what’s best for you. You know you’re there when your focus is on what you should be doing, could have become and can never do. This black and white world that’s ruled by what others have decided is right and wrong is definitely not You. You know it’s not because you feel out of place, off balance and unmotivated when you’re there.

How do you show up?

And then you have the skin of the peach – your facade. This is what the rest of us see. We use this information to size you up and to judge whether we like you. When you know who you are and you’re not hiding a bit of Youness, your appearance, actions and the words that fall from your lips express the genuine You. Life gets simple when you’re not caught up in what you might look like and what someone else might think. You have nothing to hide, no fear of being found out and you don’t spend time creating an illusion. Your energy flows directly from your core to your skin without thought, without hesitation, without regret. Simple.

Many of us are trying to hide the fact that we have a peach pit at the core that’s surrounded by the flesh of lemon and covered up with the skin of an apple. Life drifts by, punctuated by a flurry of busyness designed to stretch the skin of an apple around a lemon. It’s impossible, complex and just plain weird.

If you feel guilty, shameful, ugly, disengaged, remorseful and stuck in a state of wanting something more, you’re not simply doing you.

If you are at peace, accepting, regularly involved in pursuits that make you lose track of time, confident, connected to your Humanity, giving without expectation, are filled up (not wanting), are inspired to challenge your limits to reach your highest goals, can clearly see the possibilities in everything and everyone, decisive, taking action and excited about sharing who you are with the World… you are simply doing you. I can go on about what simply doing you looks, smells, feels, sounds and tastes like; but I’ll save that for future posts.

Simply doing you is… simple, but learning how is complex.

For most, the process needed to simply do you requires searching the depths of their souls to figure out what is buried at the core.

Many of you don’t know who you are. You don’t know what your preferences are, what turns you on or the things you enjoy. You’ve been going along with what you’ve been taught is right and avoiding what other’s have told you is wrong. Many of you are so entrenched in other people’s ideals, that you aren’t even aware of the Sun that’s shining down on your head, let alone who you are.

The simply in simply do you comes after a complicated process of peeling back the layers of skin and flesh that you’ve been hiding under. Well, it’s only as complicated as your resistance dictates.

Who are you?

What do you believe?

How do you show up?

What does simply doing you mean to You?