Be Who You Are

I am in charge of how I feel and today I am choosing happiness.

-Unknown 

 

I don’t always know how to be happy but I do know one way to be unhappy.  You will be unhappy if you are always trying to make everyone around you happy.  However, I think one way to be happy is to be who you are.  Almost from the moment of birth other people are trying to mold us into the kind of people they think we should be.  This includes parents, family, teachers, ministers, employers, and the world in general.  I have spent much of my life being resistant to this without totally ostracizing myself from family and society.  I recently had a talk with my granddaughter.  She is a little upset because she feels like people around her are trying to make her a “prissy” girl and she doesn’t want to be that kind of girl…at least not yet.  I told her to be who she wants to be, that I think she is perfect just the way she is, and that I will love her no matter what.  Since I had her attention I also told her that girls can be anything they want to be just like boys.  My wife and I both told her that when she’s at our house she can be whoever she wants to be because there are no rules at our house.  All of you should be who you are too assuming you are not a jerk.  I believe it was Shakespeare who said, “To thy own self be true”.  If you are a little weird in a good way, that’s fine.  The world is full of cookie cutter people.  If you have a sensitive nature, great!  If you’re a driven, ambitious person, I will get out of your way.  However, I encourage you to be nice on your way up the ladder because sooner or later you will be descending that ladder.  If you are artistic, I truly value you because the world needs more people who appreciate beauty.  Find yourself and don’t be afraid to let the world see who you are.  As I’ve said many times, we are all here for a reason.