97. "This above all; to thine own self be true." -William Shakespeare
((if the above sentence confuses you, please refer to my previous blog and click the link, it's way cool and you'll get what I'm doing.))
I mostly agree with this statement. And in the last few years, I think I'm learning and learning that it IS ok to be true to yourself. You're you. You have your own thoughts, your own choices to make, your own will, your own direction. My whole life I've always been afraid of offending someone, always making sure that no one was mad at me, tiptoeing around the people that I felt I needed to, was bold enough around the people who I thought could handle it, and frankly, it got to be too exhausting. Not to say that I changed to a different person depending on who I was with, because that wasn't the case, but I can say that I adapted myself a little to fit the company I was with better. And of course, I think that needs to be done in any situation, but I was letting it overwhelm me almost. That wasn't good. It wasn't healthy for me.
I think I've been changing for the past 3 or so years into being "true" to myself, but mainly in the last year. Turning 30 has had a pretty big impact on me. For the better. I've learned some hard and painful lessons by being this way (true to myself), but lessons that needed to be learned for my benefit. I've realized people aren't fair or kind when something doesn't go their way, or words spoke to tickle their ears, or you don't act how they think you should, but I've also learned that people gain respect and look up to people who are willing to really and honestly be true to their self and what they believe and believe in. I think the balance is good. You find out a lot about yourself by being true to yourself. ((how many times can I say "yourself" in a sentence?? LOL))
Above all, I think you should be true to God, so that's why I said earlier that I mostly believe in this quote, but that's the one difference. But in being true to God, it makes it a lot easier to be true to yourself. And it allows you to be confident in doing so.
To be 'nobody but yourself', in a world which is doing it's best, night and day, to make you everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle which any human can fight; and never stop fighting. - E.E. Cummings
ReplyDeleteI think that nothing feels better than being confortable in your own skin. Realizing who and what is important to you is the gateway to a strong sense of self. Personally, with all the trials and tribulations I have experienced in my 26 years, I have learned that even though much of it has been hard to handle it has also helped me to begin to understand who I am and what I stand for. But then, I begin to wonder...? Is 'being true to yourself' something that is ever-changing? Or is it something you discover at some point in your life and it just gets stronger? (I don't know if that makes sense, but it does in my own thoughts! LOL) Maybe that's a part of me that just hasn't figured out what my true self is?
Thanks for writing this...it definitely has got me thinking! I feel a therapeutic blog coming on....by the way, I look up to YOU for being true to yourself! :D