My beautiful daughter has Nosce te ipsum written around her wrist. It is Latin and means "Know Thyself" It's perfect and inspiring!
“To thine own self be true.” Also a favorite of mine, is spoken by Polonius in Hamlet. It means "Do not deceive yourself". To deceive yourself (kid yourself, lie to yourself) is sometimes easier than deceiving other people.
The full quote is:
to thine own self be true,
and it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man
This implies that so long as you do not deceive yourself then you will not be tempted to deceive other people.
There is a shade of difference between not being true and knowing oneself and deceiving oneself.
As Polonius is so full of words, it is natural that the things he says be considered 'just a lot of words'. Polonius might not know the depth of his own words but Shakespeare did and it is up to us to get to it.
Think of this, how many lies have you told yourself over the years?? You're not tall enough/too tall, you're overweight, your nose is too big, you're not good enough, you're not smart enough... Lies, all lies I tell you!!
Each of us is created beautiful and perfect, just as we should be. I’m realizing no matter what other people say, do, or think about us, it is our opinions of ourselves that really matter. Maybe it's time to retrain our thoughts, "Know Thyself". Maybe everyone else around us knows that we are amazing but we don't know it about ourselves. Take ownership of your own greatness!!
Ultimately the question we need to ask ourselves is: Am I being completely truthful with myself? I have said countless times over the years "If we could just spend five minutes outside of ourselves and see ourselves the way others do, we would instantly realize how amazing we really are". This seems especially true for women. We are ridiculously hard on ourselves. Retrain your thoughts!! What if you were kinder to yourself? What if you complimented yourself, your great and perfect self? How instantly would your life change?
Fortunately, I am blessed with amazing people in life who do not hesitate to point out when I am deceiving myself and NOT deceiving them. They came to me in many different and beautiful ways. They are "my people", my personal cheering squad and I encourage you to carefully select "your people" too. If you want to be happy and positive then surround yourself with happy and positive people. If you want to make healthy choices then surround yourself with people that make healthy choices. Erase negativity from your life and watch your life evolve into a life filled with positive thoughts and deeds everyday. Seriously, who wants to be around negativity? Be the person you want to be around. Let go of the stories/lies you have told yourself in the past. Instead be kind to yourself. Be truthful with yourself about your greatness, own it and live it! And here's an idea; the next time someone compliments you, just say thank you. Don't argue with them, let their sweetness wash over you. Let it sink in, it's a part of you, a truth about you, just own it!
Could you start now? Right now. It is never too late! I challenge you to make a list of all of the super awesome things about yourself! Have fun with it, and remember "Know Thyself" and "To thine own self be true".
Namaste~
