Do we really know ourselves?

Here is a silly question. Are you who you think you are? Do you even know yourself? Most people would say, of course I know who I am, but they may be surprised that they don't know their true self. Why wouldn't person know themselves? People fall into the trap of wearing masks.  We put on the masks to fit in, succeed, or not be noticed. The desperate need to be accepted drives a people to be who they are not. Over time, we become the masks we wear.  The result is anger, resentment, depression, and fear.   We do not understand why we are not happy and carefree. We don't realize it because we are suppressing our true self to fit into other peoples world.    I was guilty of wearing masks to fit in to the world around me.  It became one of the many underlying causes of my alcoholism.  My desperate need to be accepted, successful, and popular caused me to put on many masks to fit in. I was a chameleon changing based on what I thought others expected.   My quest for happiness was 100% external and I rejected who I truly was.  I adopted what I thought was the socially acceptable way to act, talk, and dress based on the situation I was in.  My distress and unhappiness was simply my true self screaming to get out.   It started so young, that when I realized my mistake, I had no clue who I was, what was my purpose, and what my role was in this short life.  The more I tried to be all things to all people, the more confused I was and I used alcohol to numb my emotions.   When I was desperate to get sober, I worked the steps of Alcoholic Anonymous.  As with most people who start this journey, I thought the sole purpose was to stop drinking.  However, the process forced me to look inward instead of outward for the first time in my life.  It was there I discovered my fatal flaw.  To be free of the need of a chemical solution to my problems, I had to accept to true me.  I had to stop trying to be what I thought was societies norms, the fashion of the moment, or the proper way to speak or act in a given situation.  To be happy, all I had to be was me.  I  had to accept that I would not be fully accepted in many circles. I had to learn to be OK with that. "To Thine Own Self be True" had to become my motto. Finding me has become the greatest adventure of my life. Today, I do not care what others think, say, or feel about me. I also stopped trying to get others to conform to my way of thinking and living. I live and let live today.  I look in the mirror daily and see the man who was suppressed for so many years and each day I set him free.   Why is it so easy to reject the perceived norms and expectations of society?  Because I now can sit back and see with clear eyes that so many people I emulated are miserable and are wearing masks also.  They are sheepizens just following the herd. They are as lost as I was. Today I stand on the mountaintop and yell here I am, take me or leave me.  No longer do I repress my true self because of accepted norms or perceptions.  Yes, I am considered eccentric in many circles and I couldn't be happier.  I have found much more than sobriety in Alcoholic Anonymous, I have found me!