To Thine Own Self Be True

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. - Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3

Laertes receives a great deal of advice from his father before leaving. This includes material on fiscal responsibility, the wisdom of not speaking without first giving thought to what will be said, the difference between modesty and cowardice, and the importance of friendship. Above all of these things, Polonius places the importance of being true to ones own nature.

There is a great deal which can be learned from this simple statement. Regardless of what others may think, it is necessary for each individual to follow her or his own path. This is true for the simplest of things like dress and hair style and the larger things like setting goals for ones life, education, and career. This can be one of the most difficult things to adhere to.

Every person is an individual, yet everyone has a number of different factors which influence their day to day lives. We live in a world of social pressures. We all deal with expectations placed upon us by friends and family alike. While residing inside the confluence of these varied influences, we must create our own identities. In some ways these will be similar to those around us. In other ways they may be reactions to them. In still other ways the sense of self is unique to each individual in turn.

Often we do not realize the degree to which the creation of ourselves is a reaction to those around us. We mimic, either consciously or unconsciously, those we admire while rejecting those for whom we have no admiration. People often speak of "teen-age rebellion," but this can be viewed as a societal reaction to the previous generation. In order to create their own identities, teens must decide if they will accept or reject the opinions and lifestyles of their parents. In so doing the create a common zeitgeist of clothing, hair, political opinions et. al. by which they are able to easily identify themselves as belonging to their peer group.

On a personal level, each individual must examine the opinions of their own social groups and decide which ones are in line with their own internal belief system. Life is a continual process of trying on new identities, keeping aspects of those which are comfortable, and discarding the rest.

Over time one creates ones own identity, becomes comfortable in their own lifestyle, creates and pursues their own goals. This can be extremely difficult, especially when ones choices do not fit with those of the social groups with which they must interact. These social groups can be as small as their individual family units or close group of friends to the society as a whole.

What is important is that each individual strive for those things with which they feel most comfortable. Naturally, there are some limits which are placed upon everyone. Society places sanctions on some actions for the benefit of the populous. If one achieves pleasure from setting buildings on fire, it will be necessary for the individual in question to find some way to sublimate this drive and find a more constructive outlet.

No one can live for you, neither can you live another's life. The news is filled with stories of parents who push their children to achieve goals which they themselves wish they had been able to attain at a young age. While this can create scholars, expert musicians, and star athletes, it is important for parents to recognize the importance of allowing their children to create their own identities during this crucial developmental period.

Things do not necessarily become easier once an individual has constructed their own sense of self. Everyone encounters those who do not agree with their beliefs. At this point the individual must decide whether to remain true to themselves despite the discomfort or to give in to the tide of social pressure. While it may seem easier to conform, this is a betrayal of the individual's essence. It may provide temporary relief from the unpleasantness of being regarded as "weird" or an outsider. In the long run, however, that individual will have to come to terms with the fact that he or she is not living their own life but someone else's.

In order to be truly happy, one must decide what one wants and make efforts to achieve it, regardless of the opinions of others. This may make things more difficult for a time, but when the individual achieves the goals in question, the rewards will be even greater.

This does not mean to ignore the counsel of others. As noted above, there are some actions which are proscribed in any society. Sometimes these actions are forbidden because of a long standing tradition which has since become outdated. People may then choose to ignore the societal prohibition against these actions in an effort to change the populous as a whole. For example, without those who were willing to throw off societal shackles, the United States would still be a place where only white, land-owning men had the right to vote. Difference can lead to progress.

Similarly, it is possible to learn from each person that you encounter, even if you possess wildly different opinions on a number of subjects. It may be that the person you disagree with politically shares similar religious beliefs. The person who dresses differently may be able to provide you with advice on how to achieve one of your goals. If nothing else, the person may provide reasons which validate your own opinions.

Even in the most rigid of societies, there is room for individuality. In a corporate world of gray suited people, colorful socks can be a minor sign of rebellion and individuality.

Ultimately, each person must decide for her or himself what is right for her or his life. We all must create our own personalities by viewing the world around us and deciding what is important and what is not, what is right and what is not. Once this is done, we must strive to retain our senses of self, regardless of the opinions of others. This is the only way to achieve the goals you set for yourself and to be the person you want to be. All else, as Polonius intimates, is a lie.

http://ezinearticles.com/?To-Thine-Own-Self-Be-True&id=9688374

Message From the Universe: Be Guided by the Traffic Lights of Your Life

"You are not on earth to make things happen. You are not on earth to spread the love. You are not on earth to make it a better place or to learn acceptance of the things you cannot change. You are not on earth to find your soul mate or your purpose. You are not on earth to put the needs of others before your own. And you are most certainly not on earth to suffer, pay penance, be tested, or judged.

Did I leave anything out?

You are on earth because in your loftiest state of being, perched high above the wonderment, at the pinnacle of your glory, you wondered what it would be like, even fleetingly, to believe in limits.

You sage,

The Universe"

There is no really any limits to your potential. We all ask ourselves:" What is my mission? What am I here for? What do I need to accomplish here in this Earth to fulfill God's wishes? Is there anything that I need to do so I can get closer and closer to fulfilling my duties as a human being? Where do I go from here? I am sure you have plenty more questions that you ask yourself on a regular basis and I am also sure that none of these questions could be answered. So what to do? Well, just live your life and not worry about what you need to do. It is believed that opportunities will arise that will direct you to what is your role for this planet. The Universe knows exactly how to align events the right way so it guides you exactly where you needed to be. If anyone remembers the movie "The Italian Job" with Mark Walhberg where around the end of the movie, the team was able to bring the Truck filled with Gold to a very specific destination where they wanted it by playing around with the traffic lights so they can detonate the bombs and drop the truck below the streets of Los Angeles and steal the gold. The same works with the Universe. It will change the traffic lights of your life and guide you where it wants you to be. So sometimes, when you are ready to travel that road at a hundred miles per hour, you might see a red light that will interrupt your momentum and require you to turn left or right, but that is OK, it is part of the plan. Don't get angry or depressed, and avoid road rage at all cost. Just follow the guided path and avoid any potential accidents that may occur.

We all pray to live a healthy and productive life. No one is immune to disaster. When it does strike, it can be painful for yourself and your whole family. So we wonder, if we follow the logic from this post, is sickness a part of these traffic lights? Are they meant to leave me at that stop light and keep me there or change the direction of my journey in life? Am I supposed to look at it as a sign that I need to change things so I can expect different outcome? What if I don't make it out of this sickness? Have I accomplished my mission and is this the end of me? You can go on and ask millions of questions and always try to figure out the best answers. There is no ultimate answers. It will depend on the moment you are living it. It will depend on what you did to make all these unforeseen events occurs in your life. As said, the best thing to do is to embrace whatever obstacles happens at any given time and just try to live in the moment and not for tomorrow or next week or next year. You need to live for TODAY and that is all. Everything else after today, you will figure it out tomorrow.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Message-From-the-Universe:-Be-Guided-by-the-Traffic-Lights-of-Your-Life&id=9587337

Rock Bottom Rewards

How high can we go, how far can we reach? When the creativity of mankind is unleashed our ability to go farther, to scale greater heights is immeasurable. What limits us then; where are the boundaries and who placed them in our path? We did. Boundaries are established by an old enemy... fear. It's those things we love and the fear of losing them that is the barrier preventing us from reaching our highest potential or discovering all the great unknowns. Power, prestige, money, the loss of affection or respect from someone we care about and applause; the resounding applause of those who approve of us all have their name stamped on that which stops us in our tracks.

Like the proverbial flea in a jar that can only jump as high as the lid we systematically determine the size and height of our jar. The more we imagine we have to lose the smaller and shorter the jar. The greater our attachment to those 'things' the more deeply embedded is our fear of losing them. Somehow we imagine that our own value is determined by what and who we have accumulated or whom we have attracted in our life. We seldom forget how hard we worked for these achievements. We remember the pain for the gain as we lose sight of our ability to create or to dream. And so we stop and carefully guard that which we have in hand.

The humble beginnings of dreams that meshed with creativity unleashed are evident from barn of the Wright brothers where aviation sprang into life, to a kite in the sky that proved we could create and harness electricity to the basement of Bill Gates where computers for all were born. These all exemplify the wonder of what could be and a dream that became a hope as the world watched in wonder. And it was good. We were created to live life in a constant state of wonder; it is the father of creativity.

Does this mean we must give up all those things we love in order to go forward? Hardly; it means we must give up the fear of losing them and choose to believe that what is truly important in our lives cannot be lost. That which is lost is always replaced with someone or something of far greater value to us. The universe asks only that we go boldly and without fear. When we do, we are richly rewarded in ways we never dreamed of. The rewards are not the goal. they are the result of realizing the dream.

It turns out that rock bottom really is good solid ground to stand on. Our creativity is unharnessed there. When you have nothing to lose you have everything to gain!

http://ezinearticles.com/?Rock-Bottom-Rewards&id=9662988

Declutter by Setting Limits

How many times in the past have you unsuccessfully tried to pare down the clutter in your home? Too many to count? Maybe a different approach can help. Read on to discover a different way of looking at things.

As you create your de-clutter plan, what if you turned your focus to how much space you're willing to give to each category of item, rather than directly focusing on how much of each category you actually have? Recognizing that giving space to any one category takes away space that might otherwise be used to store something else, you can use containers, furniture, or areas of a room to limit the amount of space you're willing to dedicate to any one category.

Let me give you an example. Let's say books are a primary source of clutter in your home - they not only fill up a multitude of shelves, but also spill out of boxes in your attic and are piled on surfaces throughout your home. What if you declared that you're only willing to have as many books as you have space on bookshelves? If you have more books than shelf space, you have a number of options:

Keep all the books because you want to and you don't see any reason to get rid of any of them. Fair enough, you only need to consider doing something different if the pain of the clutter is greater than the pain of paring down.

· Buy more shelves

· Pare down your book collection to fit on the shelves you currently have, and if you bring in more books, let go of enough so that they will all still fit on your shelves.

I've taken a similar approach to keepsakes - I have a plastic bin on a closet shelf that holds old greeting cards, my kids' school work, etc. Several times the box has been filled to overflowing, but rather than give in to the temptation to buy more boxes, I pared down the contents. Although you might suspect that this would have been a gut-wrenching experience, it was actually quite enjoyable: It gave me a good reason to visit the treasures I otherwise would probably have never looked at and choose those that still hold meaning. Putting some time between my original saving of the items and revisiting them made it clear that what was once meaningful was no longer all that special for many things. If I ever get to a point that I can't pare down enough to have it all fit in that bin, I'll scan items so I can save the memory while also saving space.

So whether it's books, keepsakes, food storage containers, papers, clothes, kitchen utensils, or something else, set a limit on how much you're willing to store, and enjoy the beauty of owning less.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Declutter-by-Setting-Limits&id=9339747

Limits and Fears Are Often Just an Illusion

This morning, I took my kids to school. The weather condition was cold and foggy; the fog was very dense, we could barely the road that led to the highway, but nonetheless, I had to get my kids to school. The sun was not shining yet, so the fog gave a dark gray color that looked very unfriendly and frightening. Limits and fears are just like this fog that I am telling you about, we tend to stop because we do not know what is inside that fog. Our own personal fog (limits and fears) prevents us from achieving our goal of being happy. Some of these limits and fears are:

1. Speaking in front of small and large crowds.

2. Not trying new things to better your life.

3. Being shy.

4. Not using your talents and skills to serve other people, to make their life even better.

5. Being monotonous and not spontaneous.

This article will show that these limits and fears are often just an illusion. That fog is just an illusion of fear and limits; when I took my kids to school, all I did was start-up the car, told my kids to get in, and off we went. We drove slowly through that fog, driving visibility was poor, but we arrived at our destination safely. Some of the pointers that I have listed above, I will go into further depth so that you can overcome any fear or limit and become an unstoppable force.

Being Shy

There is nothing with being a little quiet at some point in your life, but if you truly want to get ahead of your competition, then you need to open that mouth and speak. It will take a great deal of practice to overcome this limit, but over time, words will begin to flow from your mouth that will strengthen not only yourself, but your family, relationship with your spouse, at school, church, or at work.

Not Trying New Things to Better Your Life

There is a saying imprinted on one of my Wife's mirrors that says "You Can Do Hard Things." This life was not meant to live passively, but to be explorers and pioneers in our chosen fields of profession; even if you are not in school, you can still go out and do something that is new and fun, such as rock climbing, aviation, artistry, writer, inspirational speaker, gospel teacher (religion), or even an athlete. Once you have mastered a certain skill or talent, then move on to explore and develop a new talent. At this time, I am currently developing my talents as a writer and a helicopter pilot.

Not Using Your Talents and Skills to Serve Other People, to Make Their Life Even Better

There is no greater feeling in the world than to see that smile on the faces of the people you have served. As a writer, I am sharing some pointers and ideas that have helped me to find happiness and now I am sharing this knowledge with all of you so that you can change your life for the better. If you have a skill in woodworking, do not build furniture just for your family, but use that skill to help other families who may not be just as fortunate.

Some of the other pointers fall into these categories that I have talked about, but to be short in writing, you can see that limits and fears are often just an illusion. Please feel free to leave a comment about this article and share it with someone you know who is struggling to find happiness in this life.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Limits-and-Fears-Are-Often-Just-an-Illusion&id=9315623