William Shakesphere...

Hamlet Act I Scene III...

Personally I have never scene the play nor read the book however I do know that a sentence came from this play that speaks to me - "This Above All: To Thine Own Self Be True".

How many of you can sit, think and honestly say you are true to yourselves above all others?

I will admit I can't...

I will admit I have not been true to myself however I didn't know it until I started this journey...

Being true to yourself means:

Not compromising your values, principals, beliefs etc...

Doing the right thing for you not what others tell you to do...

You allow your individuality and uniqueness to shine through...

I have learned that if you know & love yourself, you will then find it effortless to be true to yourself...

I thought I lost my self-respect when my husband left however I have learned that self-respect comes from being true to who you really are.

When you respect yourself, others will respect you because they know you are strong and able to stand up for yourself and for your beliefs.

I couldn't begin to tell you how many times I have had to defend my beliefs since this journey started...

I admit I was getting very sick of people telling me what a fool I am or how stupid I was etc...

However I realized today that these same people who challenged my beliefs made me stop and really search to make sure this was a belief and not a fear masked as a belief...

I have made changes on my journey, I have dropped some things that were weighing me down and picked up new things that make me happier...

To those that have challenged me here (and those that never read this) I thank you...

Thank you for making me really think and search for my true beliefs...

Thank you for still hanging around even though my posting has been very sporadic lately... :)

This far into the journey, I have learned something very important - Being true to yourself means I will not allow others to define me or make decisions for me that I need to make on my own.

AUDIOSLAVE
Don't Lose Any Sleep Tonight
I'm Sure Everything Will End Up Alright
You May Win Or Lose
But To Be Yourself Is All That You Can Do