Your Greatest Battle

...is to be who you are. Sounds simple doesn't it. And quote worthy. Coffee mugs, journals, email footers. We have all seen them and thought we understood. 

I have a tray that I put my keys in daily for many months with such a quote. It says: "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." Ralph Waldo Emerson

E.E. Cummings said something similar, "To be nobody but yourself in a world that is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody but yourself means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight - and never stop fighting."

But here's the thing. Being ourselves, truly ourselves, is the greatest risk we will ever take. I am not talking about being selfish or self-centred. That is something entirely different. Selfishness is not core to anybody. 

Being ourselves involves going back to our core values, and being willing to look at where we are not living up to those values and why.  It involves taking responsibility for acting powerfully within those values and not allowing blame of circumstances or of others as an excuse when we do not live up to our values. 

It would be so easy to just end this blog on a light, even inspirational note. But being yourself isn't something to take lightly. You have to believe that who you are is just what is needed, be willing to pay the cost to live authentically and be compassionate and gracious with those who don't see things the same way you do.

Daniel

The best mosaics have a lot of pieces...