Imagine you are cast in a play, and you have to act as 'yourself'. Nothing complicated, nothing fancy, you are just acting as you, your esteemed self. You really wouldn't have to act, would you? After all, you are playing yourself! It would be a breeze.
Unless.......if a person has been so busy trying to copy someone else one day, be like somebody else on another, that he or she really does not know who they really are. This person is going to have a tough time acting in that play!
Now bear with me and extrapolate this to life. If I am being myself, it would be so easy to navigate life. I am me, good or bad, but unique and original. I don't have to put any extra effort in being myself. But in day-to-day life, if I try to be anybody else, (maybe that popular, jovial guy in town!), no matter how good I am at copying, I'll still be a copy. And never as good as the original version.
There is no value in trying to display qualities that we don't possess, to gain applause that we can't hold. To try to be someone else is being insincere to your self, and is also very exhausting.
If you are always unapologetically yourselves, with no airs, always straightforward, you will be happy. But believe me, you will be talked about. Like minded people will love you, some will be envious, and a very small minority will be jealous. And the latter emotion is a result of neurotic insecurity, emoted by people who really want to be like you, and in fact, are socially bankrupt. What we can hope is for a day when these folks start paying more attention to their own lives, rather than meddling in somebody else's.
The pen that writes our life story should be held in our own hands. We should be the authors of our own destiny and legacy. It takes a lot of courage to be your own self all the time, but as we grow in years, it becomes relatively easier. I know a lot of people who are truly themselves all the time. I don't always agree with their views, but I do always respect them, because I know where they are coming from. And we all know people (always a miniscule minority), who are growing older every day, but are not growing up!
"He who trims himself to suit everyone, will soon whittle himself away." ~ Raymond Hull
