“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”
― William Shakespeare, Hamlet
That’s heavy! No really. Let’s break this down: “To Thine own self be true”. – What does that mean to you? To me, it means that I should follow my heart, live according to my own values and standards. For me, that would mean me being true to my faith, following my God, being honest, true, hardworking, loving, kind, giving, trustworthy. To find my true north and follow that course. To live as honestly as possible. Which for me means to do what I must- to do what God has laid in front of me and follow that calling. To strive towards the desires of my heart, find fulfillment in talents, creativity and love. I must add travels and meeting people as well.
“And it must follow, as the night the day”. To me, this means it is a natural course of action, let my life flow as easy as day and night come and go, so should my doings of life flow just as natural. Each day, each night, follow my heart, my code, my natural path and my callings. Yes, callings, I believe I have more than one and I’m sure you do also. My callings have included, being a human being, a child of God’s, a daughter, a mother, a wife, sister, aunt, cousin, friend, sponsor, teacher, writer, photography, encourager and most importantly a Christian.
Embedded within each of those are even more callings. For instance, as a wife and mother, I had to learn to cook, clean and care for wounds and emotional upheavals. As a person and single mother, I needed jobs, as a teacher I had to learn about children’s learning styles. I needed to learn a lot more about people, and to have patience & tolerance. How to deal with pain and aggravation- outside of the family unit that is. As a counselor I had to learn how to help others cope with issues that I knew all too well.
As a recovering addict, I have had my biggest lessons in “stick-to-itive-ness”, not giving up, not being a quitter anymore. As a worker you have to learn how to deal with other people’s lack of integrity and unwillingness to do the job they are being paid for. To deal with all kinds of other personalities and be sensitive to their situations in life when they bring their burdens with them to work. Being of service in my 12-step program was/is a great training ground for working out in the world.
“Thou canst not then be false to any Man”. This is pretty obvious, if I am true to me and all I value, then it would follow suit that I would be true and honest with everyone else. According to my own code of conduct. There’s no reason to be anything different. I could not look myself in the mirror or live in my own skin if I knew I was deceiving others. Not being honest with my fellow man. Why would I want to live like that!
Of course, that is exactly how I lived in my active addiction. I said and did what the drugs told me to. I deceived most everyone, very few knew the real me. I didn’t even know the real me, I was deceiving my own self. I was not the person God intended nor was I being true to myself nor my family. Once I got clean and in recovery, all that changed. Thank goodness!
To my own self be true. Yes! I’ll be me; you be you. We all need to find and follow our own paths. This will take strength, focus, determination, a big ol heart! As in last weeks post, find your purpose, then stay the course, there’ll be bumps, twists and turns through no fault of your own, and sometimes it will be your doing. Just remember to be true to yourself. The rest will follow.
Question of the Week: Are you being true to yourself? How so? If not, how can you get back on track to be the person God intended you to be?
