Become who you were born to be

Thanks to the prolific use of the word “swagger” in hip hop songs, it is hard to shake off all sexual innuendos of the word. Hence, if I were to say swagger had a lot to do with self awareness, you would probably be examining your precious gems and humps right now.

Concentrate. Put your hands back on your lap.

While it may be true that individuals who are better endowed tend to be cockier, you too can possess swagger if you understood yourself better. Oh, how rude of me to automatically assume you weren’t erm… naturally blessed in that area.

In order to garner attention from others, you first need to focus the attention on yourself. Put away the measuring tape; you have no use for it. Self awareness runs deeper than the physical; it is more than knowing the length of your girth and the size of your jewels.

It is about personal identity. Swagger is about wearing your own attitude. But before you can “wear your own attitude”, you need to KNOW your innate attitude.

Aren’t we all familiar with that guy in school who tries to be ghetto but flops miserably? “Yo, yo, boom boom pow, po po zao!”Oh wait, that’s Kevin Ferdeline. His words sound like he’s rattling off a Chinese takeout menu. Not cool.

We all have that person we want to emulate. A person who epitomizes swagger. But when we try to pick up certain traits and walk a certain way, people catch on to that. Immediately, they know we’re trying to be someone we’re not. Unless your acting is top notch.

The reason why many people try to be someone they’re not is perpetuated by the fear of being socially stereotyped. By association, swagger conjures to mind the Captain of the football team, the Prom Queen and that cheer leading bitch. If you get invited to a frat party, you’re on the C.O.O.L. list!

“I’m not cool if I listened to opera and cried watching Oprah!” “And if my booty isn’t Beyonce-bootylicious, I will never find a boyfriend! And no boyfriend means swagger NOT!”

Self awareness is about knowing who you are. Swagger is about ACCEPTING yourself for who you are.

There is a stigma attached to the school’s nerd who clocks more time at the Science lab than in classes. Or the girl who wants to keep a short hair style. Look at p!nk; she is a role model to many girls; mostly lesbians, yes, but she does what she wants, not what society tells her to.

What’s wrong with being a goody-two-shoes and loving your dinosaur figurines? You could unearth a fossil and well be on your way to being a lauded anthropologist! So what if you’re 20 pounds overweight and have lungs like no others? For all you know, you could be the overweight version of YouTube sensation Susan Boyle.

And perhaps to put things into perspective.

Why people see frat boys and hip hop artistes as the definition of swagger is this. They do not try to be someone they’re not. Frat boys act ludicrously on a daily basis, and they know they are being stupid and hated for that. Do they withhold their antics? Nope. They continue doing what they like!

The ladies of a cheerleading squad probably have their cheers rewritten in their name (and not in a good way) but they don’t back down! They keep on coming back, and they keep bringing us the eights.

Hip hop artistes know they aren’t genius songwriters, and they are unabashed about it. They are not going to pick up violins and play the piano just so people will respect them as music moguls.

And that’s swagger. You don’t ask for it; you earn it.

So quit frontin’. Be who you are today!