Be nothing but yourself Today

As somebody who has grown up around dishonesty and suffers from it's side effects, I urge everybody to be honest.

Be completely true to yourself and to others.

If somebody asks you how your job is going and your initial response is to hide your dissatisfaction with it from the person asking, change your job. If somebody drags you kicking and screaming into a conversation about politics and current affairs and you don't know or care and your default thoughts are that you are disinterested, that's okay. You don't owe anybody an explanation.

Do not lie about what books you have read. Do not listen to music you don't like. Don't fritter hours away on Netflix watching something you don't really like because you don't want to be out of the loop at work on Monday. Be nothing but yourself and learn that your true self is not something to hide away or be ashamed of, it is something to take pride in. 

Something that needs love, nurture and encouragement. Don't be critical of the creative works of others if you yourself are not creating. This is envy and don't kid yourself that it is anything else. You're either jealous or too dumb to know what you are. If you're dumb, admit it and work on it.

Don't adopt roles when you are in different social settings. Don't internally praise yourself for being a social chameleon. Don't change personality when your parents come to visit. Don't hold yourself back when someone is hurting your feelings because you don't want to retaliate and hurt their feelings. Tell the truth to your family and friends, even if they don't want to hear it. Tell the truth even if it makes yourself or others cry. And for fuck's sake, stop bleating on about being a good person because you don't eat meat, or because you donate to some big charity CEO's salary, or because you watched a documentary on refugees, or because you gave a homeless guy some coins instead of your coat and shoes or whilst the civilization that you participate in rapes the Earth's resources for you. 

Don't pretend to care that people are dying overseas when you do nothing to prevent it. Don't act sad at funerals if you don't feel it and then drive off blasting your music because life goes on and you know it but you can't say it. DO go to funerals and drive off blasting your music because life goes on and you know it.

Admit that sometimes life is scary. Admit that sometimes life is long. Admit that sometimes you just can't care as much about others as you'd like to because you're too worried about yourself. Accept that sometimes you just can't care as much about yourself as you'd like to because you're too worried about others. Regularly assess and evaluate if the people in your life are still worthy of your efforts; contrary to popular opinion, love is not unconditional. Love must be earned.

If you need time to yourself then just take it already. Deal with the missed calls later. If you are one of those men that can only be yourself in one room of your house (or worse, a shed) then address it.

Seek the truth, find it through integrity and be true. If you really want to find yourself, begin by not lying to yourself. Be you...

...all easy to say, but I'd be lying if I said I did it myself.