Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Today You are You


I love this quote - I don't know for sure but I think it comes from Dr Suess - it sounds Dr Suess-ish! I can just see the Cat in the Hat saying it very wisely and it is wise. Sometimes we fight against who we are, believe me I know, I have been doing it most of my life. But recently I have come to realise I actually like me. Of course not all of me- there are numerous things I would change. But the fundamental me .. yes ... I am okay.

I was very fortunate. I had a mother who I never doubted loved me and showed me this love every day. As a single mother she was determined that I would never feel that I was not wanted and in that she succeeded - as far as she was concerned anyway, sadly I never felt the same way about my father. She worked hard to support us and taught me by being a good role model as well as in words that the world does not owe me a living. I learned respect and self-respect, about doing a good days work for a fair wage, about doing unto others as you would have them do unto you and so many other values that were instilled into me without me even realising. 

There were many times when I hated who I was; when the kids at school teased me because I was fat, or because I 'didn't have a proper father' or when I couldn't do something in school and thought I was stupid or many of the other times when I just knew life would be so much better if I was just someone else. Especially in high school. I hated high school with a passion. I was not a popular kid, in fact I walked around the school with my head down hoping no one would actually look at me and the best day there was when I discovered the library was open at lunch time and I could hide away in there. 

But I have come to realise, and yes, it took me far too many years to learn, that no one is perfect! We all have our fears and our failures, some are just better at hiding it than others or perhaps take it less personally and move onto what ever is next in their lives.

There is no one in the world exactly like you, not even an identical twin. Each of us has our own characteristics and thoughts and while they may be similar to others, no one views the world in exactly the same way. It is truly an amazing thing. All those millions of people in the world and you are unique. How incredible is that! And then suddenly you realise that maybe, just maybe, all that angst and 'trauma' you went through when you were younger was for a purpose. Maybe if you hadn't gone through those exact circumstances and situations, you would not be the person you are today and how sad would that be.

Before you start thinking that perhaps that would be a good thing ... stop and think where you are today. Do you have a family? Do you have friends? A job you enjoy? Plans? Hobbies? Even movies or books you like? If you were a different person, even a little bit you may have ended up in a different place and never met the love of your life, never had kids, never met your best friend, never gone to that amazing place for a holiday that you can't wait to go back to, and never read this blog!

Once small decision can change a life - your life - and on reflection maybe I am exactly where I was meant to be. For sure there are things I would change but if I were to change them, would I have the memories I have, would I have made the friends I have made all over the world, would my kids have grown to be the people they are, would I have grown to be the person I am?

No matter where we are in life, no matter what the world throws at us, good or bad, there is one thing that will always hold true ... Today you are you ... that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is you-er than you.  

It is my new intention - to celebrate me and the person I am, unique to anyone else -  hopefully we can all be grateful for our 'you-ness' and honour the person that is you.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like you as you, too! xx

Shirley said...

Thank you and right back at you! :) xx

Alice Jacobsen said...

Hi Shirl, what an awesome poem/view of life you wrote, I like it alot..... thanks for letting me read it.....