Be yourself. Probably the most cliché, overused, and simple phrase anybody’s ever heard. Yet, few people follow it consistently. And nobody knows if you’re following that phrase BUT YOU. Nobody knows if every thought, action, and statement you make is truly yours BUT YOU. Many people are “mostly” themselves, but may not express an opinion if it’s unpopular, may let peer pressure dictate their time, or someone else negatively affect an action they take. Nobody shoots 100% in being yourself, but the idea is to get as close to true as possible. Obviously being positively influenced/impacted by certain things including people is advantageous but looking at outside opinions/events objectively & making a final decision based off your own values is the greatest challenge anybody will ever face.
*** Inky Johnson – “There is another person inside of you. No matter how hard you work, there is someone inside of you that works even harder. No matter how dedicated you are, there is somebody inside of you that is more dedicated. No matter how committed you are, there is someone inside of you that is more committed.” (Inky Speech)
On a deeper level, there’s a weaker version of yourself inside of you that’s trying to grab the pen also – To not work as hard, to do the irresponsible thing, to waste time, to do what your true self (The greatest version of yourself) doesn’t want to think/do. You’ve got to fight off the weakest version of yourself & stay loyal to the strong version!
Throughout my life, I’ve tried to just that. I pride myself in being so tough-minded, committed to my character, and having strong integrity that I don’t really let anything on the outside of my being dictate my thoughts/actions. Don’t misinterpret that as being close-minded though, it’s quite the opposite – I’m open-minded to EVERYTHING around me & will use everything as I see fit to shape my thoughts/actions, but I have the final say over what I think and do. I’m gonna’ hold my pen tight; I guarantee myself that.
And that’ll continue with this blog – I dictate what goes in this shit 🙂 I expect it to be a unique blog just for the simple fact that I’m not a blog reader at all so I don’t know what’s “normal” really. Whatever comes out comes out. In terms of the point of the blog, a short answer would be: “I don’t know” … You’ll have to read it & whatever you get out of it, you get out of it! I do not have a clear vision on where this blog is headed or where it will lead me to, but I know this is my next step. Though not a direct correlation, Viktor Frankl’s quote below articulates this sort of trust in the process mentality without knowing what your final destination will be.
*** Viktor Frankl – “Don’t aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long-run – in the long-run, I say! – success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it.” (Man’s Search for Meaning)