Society at best is a harsh taskmaster; at its worse, it robs you of the ability to be who you were created to be. No one will ever know you as you know yourself and armed with that basic fact gives you the courage to be the best ‘you’ you can become. That sounds easy but actually finding the courage to be yourself is hard; it demands one hundred percent of your time, energy and resources.
Acceptance of self
Accepting of self means that you don’t whitewash away your faults nor do you make excuses for not doing what you should do. It means being responsible for your actions. The first thought coming to mind after writing that sentence is that acceptance of self is for those mature enough, courageous enough and honest enough to like the person they are developing into. You know better: You don’t dwell, at any length, on who you would rather be, but instead, you find within yourself the person you actually are.
Some examples of milestones to overcome are you are shy, not pretty, have physical imperfections, poor, in less of perfect health. While you would rather be outgoing, beautiful, perfect in your actions, rich and in exemplary health, you are not. Instead, you are an imperfect human being daily working to improve on yourself. You have a world full of company; no one is perfect, only God fits that category. Yet many of your supposed negatives will fade as you mature in the knowledge of yourself and you find qualities within that overshadow these negatives.
As you develop into the mature you many of the previously believed negatives will tend to disappear as you take charge of your life while learning as you progress from day today. In learning how to manage your life your health will improve instead of getting worse. At best you will learn how to live with it. Understanding and knowledge come into play here and much of it comes from your way of doing the next thing to do the best of your ability.
Don’t blame others for your failures
A big positive when assessing your adaptability is learning not to blame others for your failures. Yes, don’t blame them even if they may be partly to blame; instead, if the problem that arises from the episode of failure means you have learned a lesson, one you’re most likely never to repeat, that failure was a blessing in disguise.
It certainly takes courage to admit to yourself that you aren’t in charge of your life, after all, a higher source, your creator has already placed at your hand’s certain ways and means that if followed will make you into the person you were meant to be. That rephrasing of the thought ‘best person you want to be’ into the person you were meant to be is the key to the courage to be who are meant to be.
Understand the probable reasons for your failures
Failure is not an end-all situation, it may be nothing more than a directive. An example of that is working at a job that does nothing for you mentally. It has no challenges, no built-in escalation, nothing. Even the pay is not worth arguing over. Losing that job could well be the first great lesson of your life. It forces you to look inside yourself and find capabilities. Whatever, never allow failure to browbeat you. You have learned or should have learned, that you are a worthy person and your daily walk with your God has taught you how much He loves you. Can you do less than to love yourself? Beware, though, and only love yourself under His supervision. Don’t for one minute accept any of the glory of it for yourself.
Everything in life has a lesson attached to it
Schooling takes money but a certain amount of it is free. In fact, the biggest part of it is free. You learn from your actions but that does not mean you don’t have to get to school on time, do your homework or put in the effort. Your parents assume much of this for you in the beginning but the sooner you take charge of your actions and get moving in the right direction, the easier taking courage of being yourself will be.
Possibly the biggest lesson you will learn that you cannot do everything on your own. You need others. And you especially need the help of your superiors, your parents, your teachers, your God. In this modern era, God is being discredited for the good that He does. That is a disgrace. Once he puts in time on you and allows you to be courageous enough to be yourself, to speak up when wrongs are being committed, you forget about him. You buy into the applause of others cheering you on. That’s good for their soul but not for yours. Admit to yourself and to others the source of your courage.
Beware of envy
Others are different from you and when you see your infantile dreams being played out by others, don’t wish you were them. They are simply doing the best they know how to do. Or maybe they’re only performing, but whatever, be glad for them. Friends and acquaintances are not to be competitors but helpmates along the way. Be glad when you recognize in others what you had hoped for yourself. Perhaps you may still have your turn, maybe not. Whatever, a courageous person will dodge envy as if it’s toxic, which of course it is.
Finally, try to keep in mind that being alive and being a part of the great unknown of the world is a good thing. Aim to do your part and in no time you will find pleasure in doing the simplest of chores as well as completing those that have required excessive work and dedication. All it takes to be yourself is to take one step a time and look back only if someone calls you home to dinner, is walking faster than you are or is asking you to wait for them. Learn to love and appreciate each minute, each second, love your God with your whole heart and see him in each person you meet. (But keep that knowledge between the two of you, the others may think you’re off your rocker.
