This week’s quote is from the great Oscar Wilde:
“Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.”
“Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.”
I love this quote! It is directly related to last week’s quote by Dr. Seuss in the sense that each of us is unique: We don’t have to follow the crowd. While it is true that we live as part of a society bound by certain rules and laws, we don’t have to blindly follow what others are doing just to be like them.
It is difficult to break away from the crowd. Sometimes we are afraid of speaking up because of what others may think, say or do. We all want to be accepted and liked by others, but if we are changing who we are in the process, are they liking who we really are or a different version of us?
I’ll give you an example: today many kids in high school and even middle school are vaping, which is like smoking … only worse.
I’m willing to bet most of those kids started not because they liked the idea of doing it, but because they were afraid to be mocked or pushed out of their group if they didn’t do it.
They simply followed the crowd and their lack of courage is now affecting their health in ways they don’t even understand …
They were afraid to stand out and in order to belong, they pushed aside their own ideas, the stuff that makes each of us, well us.
It is important to make friends, we are social animals, but it is more important to stay true to our foundations, to our ideals and our goals.
I’m pretty sure most of those kids weren’t thinking of ways to harm themselves when they began vaping, and yet that’s exactly what they’re doing. Sorry to say, but that’s pretty darn dumb: Giving up who you are and harming yourself in order to hang out with others when there’s like 7 billion people in the world! 7 billion! You’re going to tell me these kids can’t find a group of kids that aren’t willingly harming themselves because they think it looks cool? Dumb, dumb, dumb …
So back to Oscar Wilde, be yourself stand up for your ideals, stand out from the crowd , make good choices, be courageous and choose your friends well.
