Freedom means being comfortable being yourself. It means knowing who you are and living in a way that is true to that. You can’t put on a different persona with different people in various circumstances and think you’re free. In reality, you’re imprisoned by the perceptions of those around you.

When you’re not your authentic self, it’s because you’re governed by the approval of others. The fear of rejection is pushing you to bury your authentic self beneath the persona you think others want or expect. Your desire for approval is causing you to be who you are not.

For some people, they’ve put on this act for so long that they no longer know who they really are. They’ve denied their authentic self for so long that they’ve lost all sense of self.

True freedom means you are free to be yourself in all your imperfect glory.  “