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I've never been a big fan of country music. I have found it depressing, sad, whining, self-pitying... Well, you get the picture.

However, now that I live in northern Florida, when I'm in my car and I'm "surfing" radio stations to get past the talking and the ads, country music is mostly what I find. Now, I must admit, I've discovered that not all country songs are depressing, thank goodness.

I Want to Dance: It Feels Good To Be Me

What a pleasant surprise the other day to hear a country song that was definitely positive and uplifting. And even the rhythm was upbeat and made me want to dance. So as the song ended I waited to hear the name of the singer. It was Uncle Kracker. I had never heard of him. The next day I heard another song by this singer, and this song impressed me as well. The first song I heard was "Smile" and the other "Good To Be Me". 

As I listened to the lyrics of the second song (now having gone to his website and played it several times), I reflected that once we can get to that space of being able to say "it feels good to be me", we've reached a place where other people's opinions don't affect us. As the song says, "If you don't like me brother, that's okay. I'm not going to let it wreck my day. I keep stylin', smilin', handin' out the sunshine. I got no good reason why. Damn, it feels good to be me." "It's like I caught some crazy happy disease."

Being Happy with Who You Are

Just think about it! Life's ups and downs will not rock us, at least not as much, when we're happy with who we are. Being happy with who you are means you've accepted your qualities as well as your quirks. It means while you realize you're not perfect, you also realize you're perfect just the way you are right now. It also means that other people's opinions of you don't matter because you're happy with who you are.

At times, we can get caught up in trying to be a "better person". But the truth is that we don't need to be a "better" person or to become somebody else. We simply need to drop the fears and other learned behaviors, and then we'll find that underneath that tarnished persona, there shines a person of beauty who simply wants to live love and "hand out the sunshine". But due to the things we learned along the way, we often think that being ourselves is not "good enough" and that we have to try to please others in order to gain love and acceptance.

"It feels good to be me." Perhaps, as we focus on feeling good about who we are, we will find that the "lesser than" behaviors will drop off. After all, it's difficult to feel good about yourself if you've been (or are being) spiteful, envious, putting others down, not treating yourself well, etc.

The Secret to Feeling Good About Yourself

So what's the secret to "feeling good to be me"? Being true to what your heart tells you to do. After all, we all have that little voice (call it conscience, call it inner self, guardian angel, guidance, intuition, God, or whatever) that guides us to the highest action. Sometimes we listen, and let's face it, sometimes we don't. After all, we're human, and as the saying goes, "To err is human, to forgive divine..." And we're all very good at being humans. It's the divine part we may have trouble identifying with.

So if it doesn't feel good "to be you", then perhaps you're not following your own drummer. If you're trying to live someone else's idea of what your life should be, or you're trying to behave the way you think others want you to, then it will not be easy to feel good to be you.

I think the first step is self-honesty, and then following the truth we discover about ourselves and within ourselves. Maybe one way to start is to tell ourselves repeatedly "It feels good to be me", and if it feels like you're telling yourself a lie, see what you need to do to make it be true. "It feels good to be me" can be a great mantra, and as the day goes on, it will definitely help you feel better about being you. It may help raise your vision a bit from the humdrum of everyday tedium, and instead help you discover ways to feel good about being you...

Living The Dream: Nothing Left to Prove

So I'll leave you with some lyrics from another Uncle Kracker song, Livin' the Dream:

And after all I've been through
There is nothing left to prove
I'm starting to believe
we could all live the dream
One day at a time
Yes I'm starting to believe
we could all live the dream.

Recommended album:

Happy Hour
by Uncle Kracker.

Featuring: Smile, Good To Be Me, Livin' the Dream, and more...

Click here to listen and/or to order this album.

About The Author

Marie T. Russell is the founder of InnerSelf Magazine (founded 1985). She also produced and hosted a weekly South Florida radio broadcast, Inner Power, from 1992-1995 which focused on themes such as self-esteem, personal growth, and well-being. Her articles focus on transformation and reconnecting with our own inner source of joy and creativity.

More articles by Marie T. Russell

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