Be yourself

Be yourself.

In a world where perception is everything,

The image you portray who you are thought to be,

Choking and caving,

Under the burden of being what society’s defining us to be,

Ushering in the mighty great tragedy,

That many go through this world,

Living a life foreign and alien to who they really are,

And may never be known for who they are,

Even by themselves,

Against all odds and by all means,

Be yourself,

Let somebody teach you,

And pour the best of them in you,

In the process,

Giving yourself permission to do the same,

But be yourself,

For the best you can give the world,

Is the very best of you,

Remember that whoever you are,

Even that person you are trying to be,

Even that image you’re so desperately trying to project,

No matter who you are,

Every once in a while,

And maybe ever so often,

On these sometimes perilously agonizing corridors of life,

You’ll still meet betrayal from those considered friend and foe,

Open rejection or silence pregnant with spiteful disgust,

Entertain an unwelcomed   encounter with pain and heartache,

A broken heart,

Even in the midst of the possibilities of countless pleasures of life,

Small and big,

Remember above all,

That the delusive fog of inevitability,

Is spawned by the poisonous seed of pride,

And no matter who you are,

No matter what you do,

No matter how cavalier and noble,

Wretched and despicably wicked,

Though obligated to do right by man,

Even when that breath of life is gone,

As Robert Frost so impeccably captured,

In three words which ring with truth,

Truth of unfathomable depths and breadth and height,

When he said to sum up everything he’s learned about life,

“It goes on”,

Inevitably,

Unavoidably with or without you,

But while you are here,

Humanity can be better because you lived,

Do the world a favor,

Be yourself,

Boldly, courageously, unapologetically.


afesehngwahilary, may 2012