To Thine Own Self Be True: A Reminder

Never give up; you never know until you try.

Be yourself. That’s one major refresher lesson I took away from the seminar I attended Tuesday night. My guess is that it’s probably something the speaker didn’t even think about as a take-away when she conceived or presented the seminar.

Be myself? Who else would I be? Who else would I want to be? The answer for me is, “No one.” For some people, though, the answer might be something like, “I want to be Julia Roberts.” Or Justin Bieber. While I can understand wanting to exhibit another person’s characteristics or wanting to have more money, I can honestly say that I don’t want to be anyone else. Jacline isn’t perfect, but God made Jacline for a special purpose. Please, feel free to put your name into that sentence and repeat it to yourself.

Scripture tells us that God made us different for a reason. (I Corinthians 12). I think that means that we should make the most of what we’re given and go about our business. Don’t be arrogant; but don’t apologize, either, for being who you feel God made you to be. (As long as what you feel God made you to be doesn't contradict Scripture.) You don’t necessarily have to explain yourself. You have certain preferences. Be flexible, willing to hear other views, but allow yourself to have your own preferences and don’t let anyone bully you into changing. Or even try to bully you into changing.

To illustrate, I’ll tell you something about the presenter Tuesday night. She’s “billed” with a first initial, a middle name, and a last name. Most of us are used to people using a first and last name and maybe a middle initial. Maybe the speaker from Tuesday’s seminar doesn’t like her first name, but for whatever reason, she never divulged her first name. When someone asked what the initial stood for, she simply said, “(It stands for) my first name.” No explanations. No apologies. I inwardly applauded her for not caving in to the expectation to provide her first name or the reason she uses only her first initial. In short, she was true to herself. I admire that, and I’m glad she gave me a little reminder to do the same, even if that wasn’t her intention.