For the love of your own self is more important than the admiration of others around you.
For the past few days, I've been searching for a little go to phrase to be my motivation and guide me through this year. I would read thousands of quotes, and nothing really stuck out to me. I was at a standstill so I had to find the inspiration from outside my typical sources. I began watching a bunch of movies I wouldn't have otherwise watched if it wasn't crucial to me. The first movie I decided to watch was the 1996 version of William Shakespeare's Hamlet. In this movie, there was one little quote that I couldn't help but think about over and over again. Polonius, a character in the play, said, "this above all: To thine own self be true... and it must follow, as the night the day... thou canst not then be false to any man." That was almost life changing to hear, and I thought that this is something I should share with everyone for this year ahead.
In this new year, I feel it is necessary for everyone to learn to love themselves and to start acting like the people they were destined to be. I've heard the phrase "be true to yourself" a billion times, but it took hearing it in fancy Shakespearean English for me to finally see the meaning behind it. It's better to be the person you want to be and be hated by others than to be the person others want you to be and hate who you've become. Being true to yourself means believing in yourself; it means having the strength to see what is wrong in you and doing everything in your power to change it.
Whenever we face times of adversity or misfortune, we shouldn't let those situations change who we are. It's good to change certain things about ourselves, but never lose sight of what you stand for. I'll be the first to admit, I've always seen myself as being someone that had to modify my personality to match the people I was around. I couldn't help but think if I changed how I acted or pretended to like things I didn't that others would start to like me. This is a problem I think a lot of people suffer with whether they want to admit it or not. You don't have to be perfect and no one is asking you to be, but you do need to be yourself.
Never change who you are to fit the mold of a person who others want you to be. It's ok to not laugh at certain jokes you don't find funny, it's ok to not listen to certain music, you don't have to pretend to be interested in sports, it's perfectly fine to not want to drink or smoke or party every night, and it's ok to have boundaries! I know from experience how difficult it can be to be "different" than everyone else you want to impress, but I think it's important we realize there's no need to impress anyone. If you're happy with who you are, the people you're meant to be around will flock to you. Being true to yourself also means knowing your self worth and knowing that your value does not decrease based on someone else's inability to see your worth.
Similar to Laertes in Hamlet, this year many young people like myself will be going off to places they aren't familiar with. I think for anyone about to embark on a new journey should listen to all of what Polonius had to say. He wishes his son luck as he returns to school, but reminds him that even though the world may be changing around him that he should always be the person he set out to be. I draw a personal connection with this because with all that's changed in my life recently from my high times to my low I've remembered what was important to me and haven't morphed my values.
I will admit for the longest time I often worried about fitting in, but as I grow older I see that being myself has faired far better for me than pretending to be someone else. The thing I love most about growing older is seeing the mistakes I once made, and it's great to look back on things I at one point thought were so important no longer matter. The people that actually matter to you will reveal themselves the moment you stop trying to find your happiness in others and look to yourself. I say to everyone in the middle of their adventure and to the people about to start a new one, at some point stop and look how far you've come but don't forget the person you were when you started. I feel this year will be one of promising change for a lot of us so that's why this year I want everyone to remember, "To Thine Own Self Be True."
