Therapy...

To thine own self be true…..”

Most of us are familiar with the above quote taking from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, but how many of us know this verse:

“And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou can not then be false to any man.” Unless we can be true to ourselves first, we cannot be true to others.

To thine own self be true…..how profound. How many of us have a hard time being true to ourselves? Those of us that gave our life to another at the cost of loosing who we are in the process will have a hard time being true to ourselves. Allowing someone else to define who we are, we lose our ability to discover and grow inwardly. We no longer are able to discern a truth from a lie. For many of us, we have accepted lies for so long, that finding out what is true takes time. Having recently done this very thing, and hurting a lot of people along the way, I know how difficult the journey to self-discovery can be. Truth….truth is a word that brings out such negative reactions to many of us. You see truth is really an action word. You cannot accept truth without change. Accepting truth about ourselves is difficult, but truth does set one free if we will allow it to; in fact it is a crucial part of healing. It gives us the freedom to be who we are. We are able to come to terms with our weakness and appreciate our strength. Truth gives strength; it naturally builds healthy boundaries. Truth is open; it is honest even at the risk of being vulnerable again. Truth is light and brings forth life. When we walk in truth, we walk in light and when we walk in light we live a healthy life. Truth is also love. The greatest act of love towards another is living a life that is truthful. For those of us who find it difficult to love ourselves, we will find it will come more easily when we walk in truth about who we are. If we walk in truth, we walk in perfect love, and if we walk in perfect love, then we do not walk in fear because perfect love cast out fear. Because we have been honest with ourselves, we are able to love ourselves with all of our imperfections, knowing that we are in “process” and therefore need not have others approval.

This is freedom indeed.

The second part of this verse is a natural occurrence if we hold true to the first part of the verse. So, when in doubt as to our motives of not being truthful with someone….look inside, are we being less than truthful to ourselves?


”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.”

Thank You Dr. Irene...

Later...

Um...ok

So recently i have had this huge upheaval in my life...granted most of it has been by choice, but as a result i am discovering new things about myself....not all of it good....lol. It has started me thinking about my life path and my choices......When i was younger i was very submersed in art and music, but was not encouraged to follow that path....I was told many many times that i would never make a good living being an artist or a musician. So as i aged i abandoned my dreams and followed the path that was expected of me...as the song says: "They send me away to teach me how to be sensible, logical, responsible, practical"....So I went to school, got a job, got married....and as i spent all this time and effort invested in trying to make a life i was told i was supposed to have, i never bothered to ask myself if i was happy? as it turns out i was not...not happy at all. I spent my time working for a company i couldn't stand, and slowly killing what was left of my soul and creative/expressive side, so that i could put food on the table and a roof over the heads of my family. Noble,....indeed we all compromise in life....but what if we didn't what if we refused to give in? I think that requires a strength that few of us ever seem to possess. I was always starting new projects and new hobbies....simply because i was looking for something...anything to pull me out of the hell i had created for myself. I hurt a lot of people along the way, people that i cared about and thought that i loved. As i get closer to 50 i have begun to realize that it is never too late to follow a dream....no matter how stupid or silly some people think it may be....I have also discovered that happiness is a state of mind, and like anything else worth having it takes hard work and devotion to affect change. If your reading this and wondering to yourself....My advice to you is simply do it...no matter what...just DO IT! you might just end up happy!