There's never been a better time to be you.

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It's never about what someone else wants me to be, it's only about who I am, and what I want to be.  Keep telling yourself this and sooner or later you may actually believe it, or better yet you may actually start living it.

We have been bombarded with images of what others think people should be like.  We are told to shape up or ship out, as if who we really are is not good enough for the situation we find ourselves in.  We have been encouraged to tow the line because anything else would be uncivilized.  It seems to me that life has become a series of what we can't be, what we can't do as opposed to being your authentic self and to hell with what the rest of the world says you should be.

It amazes me that people are so ready to provide you with their definition of who you should be and they don't even know the real you, let alone who they are.   It also amazes me that others feel they know me better than I know myself.  I guess maybe they have walked enough in my shoes to be able to make better choices than I could.  Now I don't discount the fact that most people who give out advice, actually believe they are doing others a favor by sharing their great wisdom.  What I do doubt is someone who wants to tell me about me and they haven't the foggiest notion of why they are here on this planet.  Do yourself a favor and hit the delete button when you run into these characters, and for goodness sake don't let them take you down that rat hole that they have been living in for years.

You were created with certain personality characteristics that are matched perfectly for your destiny.  I have seen so many people try to change those characteristics, when in actuality, the personality they have was placed in them for one reason and one reason only:  to aid them in discovering and ultimately walking in their destiny.  Granted your personality may not always mix well with others you come in contact with, but that is their issue not yours.  When I see a strong willed person I can understand that they most likely will need this assertiveness to accomplish those things they have been placed here to do.  To the person who is as nurturing as Mother Theresa, there are things that they will do that may not make sense, at least make sense to those who are closed off to love and understanding.  The bottom line is you do not have to be anything that you do not feel inside of you is correct.  Trust me, if you have trained yourself to listen to your heart, your spirit, you will know when someone is telling you something that is way out in left field, and you had better just discount it and move on.  Not listening to some well meaning person is not a sign of disrespect, it is a sign of maturity.  Now don't go and get up in their face and call them an idiot for saying something, but by all means if it doesn't go along with who you know yourself to be, then simply hit the delete button once again and move on.

How great would life be if you could just be the person you know yourself to be?  That person who is not afraid to stick up for what they believe in, and not afraid of what others think about them.  I could care less what people think of me.  If you asked a thousand people what they thought of me, you would get a thousand different replies.  It is time to be yourself.  It is time to throw away the white flag of surrender and decide not to be controlled by what others think or say.  Your ability to turn off others control of your life may not be easy at first, but I assure you that after a while you will be a professional at it, and it will come to you as easy as sipping your morning Cup of Joe.

I know there are people out there who will say to me, "What if I don't know who I am?".  Well this is your opportunity to turn off the TV, get alone without any distractions, and quietly mediate on what you know to be truth.  You must know that you were created from love.  You must know that there are things you would love to be doing, things that you are passionate about.  You must know that you were put here for a reason.  Take a few moments and try to grasp all of this.  The simplest things often confuse and confound the wise.  We try to make our understanding of our creator as something that only someone who has gone to seminary for a hundred years would be able to understand.  Understanding the nature of God is so simple when you understand that God's nature is probably pretty close to your own nature, minus some of the garbage that man has told you that you need to pack along for the ride.

My dear ones, it is time to realize that now is your time.  It is time to understand who you are.  Once again, there has never been a better time to be just you.  Your funny laugh, the way you enter a room, and the crazy funny things you do, in an effort to get others to focus on the good and not the bad.  You were created to be unique.  You were created to be great.  You were created to be the person you are right now.  Free yourself from other's expectations, and look deep into your heart for the true meaning of being just you.  You will never fill another man's shoes.  You will never be able to be someone you're not.  Your intention should be to be the best you that you can be.  When you escape the expectations of others, then you have escaped the chains that have kept countless people bound up for years and years.  Freedom from expectations is your reward for knowing that you have all that you will ever need to be the person you were created to be.

You are so beautiful and yet you have allowed people to tell you, you are not.  You are so talented, and you have let others talk you out of it.  You are so unique and you have allowed others make you feel ashamed of who you are.  You are the person you were intended to be and I am damn proud to know each of you.  I long for the day when you will let me know your victories.  It is your victories that I will share with others so they can experience the same joy you have experienced by accepting your destiny and walking in it.  Oh yes it is a great day to be you.  Share this joy with others and help them discover the greatness that resides in them.  Do it because you know it is in you to do, not just because I told you so.  Now get out there and change some lives.