“To thine own self be true.” Shakespeare was a smartie pants. In these six little words, The Bard gives us the profound secret to being at peace with our bodies, our hearts, our minds, our faces, at peace with ourselves.
Do you love your body? Do you love your face? Do you love your life? For most people, at least some of that love is a struggle, possibly on the daily. Never in the history of time has loving oneself been such a difficult thing to do! Social media, advertisements, magazines, movies, so much of the world around us is a giant figurative billboard, blaring comparisons, products, mantras, ways to make you look younger, feel smarter, be skinnier, prettier, happier.
It’s all a lie.
You are beautiful. Today. Tomorrow. Always. Do you believe that?
The most important person to love is yourself. Sadly, I bet if we took a poll, a majority would say they don’t love themselves, or a part of themselves: their hair, face, body, mind, their life. Look in the mirror. Right now! Just go take a long, long look. What do you see? Are you happy? Do you love that person staring back at you?
Look in the mirror again. Now SMILE. Learn to love what you see. Who you are. It’s a journey we’re all taking, this learning to love ourselves. Sarah and I are no different than you. We’ve got our own journeys. Sarah has gained 25 pounds the past year in the name of health. I’ve got that muffin-top thing that happens around middle age. We’ve both got mind, body and soul stuff we’re working through. That’s just life.
The joyful life part comes when we forget what the world says and learn to love what we’ve got, when we learn to be 100% absolutely, completely, comfortably true to ourselves. Forget the world. What do they know anyway? Believe in yourself. Believe in your beauty. Be happy in your own skin. Feel the joy of being uniquely you. To thine own self be true. Amen!
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