Being true to yourself is an act of
rebellion especially when others want you to be something else
Last year I wrote an article titled Being Yourself Is Absolute Bravery and today I thought back to that
article because it still applies today. When I was thinking about
this time of uncertainty and what we really need now to get through these uncertain times the first thing
that popped into my mind is that we really need to be true to
ourselves. No matter what is going on in this world being true to
ourselves will be our saving grace in the end because our time on
this earth is short. If you don't say it now it may never get said.
If you don't do what you love now it may never get done. Being true
to yourself is an absolute necessity and it takes a lot of courage.
I just saw a video where a woman of
color walked into a store with her 3 beautiful children dressed
in traditional African clothing. The mom upset and very angry walked
in and asked the clerk behind the counter “who asked my children
are they going trick or treating for Halloween?” (It was August
when this happened 2 months before Halloween). The clerk tried to
deny that it was her but the 3 kids said it was her who said it. After the mother
said some blunt but O so true words she explained that she tried her
hardest to teach her 3 kids to be respectful to EVERYONE and not
cause trouble. She tried to teach them to be great citizens and to
honor their African heritage and for someone to disrespect them for
doing just that is the ultimate slap in the face.
She said that when she try to be nice
to people they don't hear a word she say but when she go to a place
and curse everyone out everyone hears every word she says. I noticed
that the video got over 24 million views. She said she wish it didn't
have to be that way and so do I but seeing that she got 24 million
views and I can remember almost every word she said is she right? I
know the clerk will not say anything about anyone's clothing from
this day forward and anyone watching that video will also think twice
about disrespecting anyone's culture no matter who they are.
In her being true to herself and
teaching her kids to be true to themselves she had to speak up
unflinching with boldness. I remembered when Jesus Christ tried to
get his point across he also spoke boldly, turned a table over and
EVERYONE who read the bible remembers him doing that. Sometimes being
true to ourselves mean that we must speak up for ourselves and speak
up for those who can not speak for themselves. That mother could have
done and said a lot of things. She could have just ignored it and
told the kids not to worry about it but that day the kids went home
feeling even more proud of who they are, proud of the clothes they
were wearing and the heritage they represented.
As a woman of color myself, I can
totally relate. You know how many times I was put down for my skin
color and my natural hair? Even to this day trying to be true to
myself in a world that truly doesn't respect everyone's culture is a
tough battle but being true to yourself and honoring who you are is a
battle worth fighting for. Being true to yourself is absolute
bravery. Just as I said last year “ I had to fight for every inch
of myself. From my own personal beliefs to my natural hair. I had to
fight to be unique. People would tell me every day be yourself then
look down on me and get angry when I do something they don't like”.
Being true to yourself means being true
to ALL of yourself even in the bold words you speak. The only one you
need to please is God so make sure you have the right heart no matter what you say or do. Keep in mind people are going to say
whatever they want to say anyway. No matter if you dress in a suit or
baggy pants people will still talk about you the same so why not be
unapologetically yourself? I learned this the hard way. You really
don't have anything to loose in honoring and being true to yourself.
So let your Unique flag fly. Love all
of yourself because you are an awesome human being and worthy of
being loved. God loves you and so do I.
God Bless
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