Does Anyone Know the Real You?

If there’s one thing that really bothers me in this world, it’s people who are fake.  They’re one way to your face, and a completely different way behind your back.  And, when it comes down to it, they don’t really know you at all.

I’ve been watching MTV’s new series “If You Really Knew Me,” and I have to admit that I think it’s brilliant. The people behind Challenge Day really know what they’re doing, and it’s a program that should be mandatory in every high school.  For those who haven’t seen the show, the basic premise is trust building activities that get teens to open up to one another and reveal who they really are on the inside. It sounds corny, but it’s not.  Once you can see beyond the outer shell, you will often find that seemingly polar opposites have a lot in common.

The thing is, it’s not just high schoolers who are afraid to show their true selves to the world. I know plenty of adults who do things they’d rather not, just to fit in. It’s sad to say, but we don’t all outgrow our tendency to be judgmental either.  I bet it won’t take you very long to think of the last time you slapped a label on someone, or made a generalization, without taking the opportunity to get to know them first.

One of the key exercises on Challenge Day is when the students sit in small groups and complete the sentence “If you really knew me…” The things they reveal are almost always unexpected, and often those who call themselves their friends had no idea. How many people know the real you? Are there things that have happened or are happening in your life that no one knows about? If you had to complete that sentence, what would you say?

It’s funny…before this blog, I would have a lot of ways to finish that sentence. Don’t get me wrong, I still have some things that aren’t publicly known, but there are quite a few aspects of my life, my true self, that I’ve written about here.  Doing so has made me more open with my IRL friends. I bottle my emotions less, and share more. It’s definitely a healthier way to go!  It’s very important to me to be genuine in the offline and online world, and I can honestly say that people definitely know the real me. What about you?