Ask ISIS

“This above all- to thine own self be true; And it shall follow as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.”

Wm. Shakespeare

The above quote has long been one of my favorites. I try to live it to the best of my abilities. We all make mistakes in life and I certainly make my share, but I never want one of the mistakes that I make to be that I lied to myself. Have you lied to yourself?

My daughter was very young and I was trying to teach her right from wrong. One of the ways I was teaching her was for her to stand in front of a mirror and like the person that she saw there. When she had stood in front of the mirror for a minute or two she asked me in all seriousness: “Mama is it OK to love yourself?” It brought me up short. So often we hate ourselves and when we do we punish ourselves. No, we don’t make ourselves stand in the corner or use a cat O’nine-tails on our back but we do destructive things to ourselves.  Or as my friend said to me: “I’m committing suicide slowly.”

When we wake up in the morning do we ask ourselves, “How can I hurt myself today?” or do we wake up and say, “This is a beautiful day and I’m going to be the best that I can be today.” It really is up to us as to how our life is going to proceed. Have you been true to yourself today?

I was at the grocery store and at the next checkout station were two soldiers. My attention was caught and I noticed that one of them had no hands and the other had only one. The soldier with no hands had pincher hooks that were fastened at his back. Every time he moved his shoulder his ‘hand’ moved. These two young men had made peace with their new hands and were not crying to all and sundry about what a bad break they had gotten from life. What has life thrown us that is worse then what they have gone through?

“To thine ownself be true …” Have you thought about just what that saying means? Have you tried to live each day so that you are true to yourself? There is a saying that each time we do something that we know is wrong our conscious backs up a little. Pick up that nickel that you know belongs to Tom and you will feel bad. Keep it and the next time you pick up Jane’s dollar it won’t hurt so much. “Great trees from little acorns grow.” And so do crimes. Change that around and do a small good deed. See how good that makes you feel. The next one is even easier. Bad deeds and good are just a culmination of how we live our lives each day. Have you been true to yourself today?

So often we have the opportunity to ‘stick it’ to the other guy. We have the opportunity to be false to others. If someone gives you too much money in payment do you immediately let them know their mistake or do you say thank you to the gods of deceit for the mistake? If you keep the money are you being true to yourself?

Many years ago I sold some strangers some merchandise. I gave them a receipt with my name and phone number on it. A day later I received a call from the purchaser saying that I had made a mistake in my adding up the bill. “Oops,” I thought, “I’m going to need to give back some of this money when I really need every dime of it.” But what I said was: “I’m certainly sorry I made the mistake. How much do you have coming back?” He answered and I’ll never forget this: “Your mistake was you forgot to bring down the 5. I owe you $50 more dollars.” This man has since become a friend. How could he not when he was true to himself and didn’t want to live a life of deceit. Have you tried to deceive anyone today?

To thine ownself be true, and it shall follow as the night the day, thou canst not be false to any man.

Stand in front of that full-length mirror and really look at yourself. Who are you really? Are you happy with the decisions that you have made in your life? Are you mad at someone for something that they did to you? What do you really want out of life? Be brutally honest with yourself. Learn yourself and what makes you tick. Do you harbor frustrations? Is there something you can do to make your life better? Life is full of decisions and we make decisions constantly. Most decisions have no consequences but when it is time to make that big decision it is also time to stop and ask if it is the right decision for you. Are you being true to yourself or do you hate yourself? If it is hate that is ruining your life take stock of why you hate yourself. Look in the mirror and see the REAL you. Love that real you and start today being true to that YOU. “And it shall follow as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.”

Write to Isis with your thoughts and questions:

Isis.temple@knology.net