How To: Live with Yourself

There's a phrase that I love to use when talking about being who you are. It goes as follows: "You come into this world alone and you will go out alone. You and you alone will lay to rest in your press-board coffin. You take nothing with you but yourself, so why would you live for others when you're destined to die for yourself?" That's a Mathew-ism, one of my pillars of personal faith. It's not to say that you shouldn't do for others, to give of yourself, but I mean to emphasize the eternal solitude that we're destined to experience. Our birth, life, and death belong to us. Ourselves. Living for your children, your spouse, your job, your bank account, your hobby; no matter what it is, if you're living for anything other than yourself you're setting yourself up for failure. It is a wonderful gift to give of yourself. To give to your spouse, children, religion, work... it's to give a piece of you, a sliver of your life. It's the best gift one can give and is the one most easily forgotten. To give is to live and to live is to give, but at the end of the day you have to be true to who you are. That's what it means to live with yourself. It's not always the easiest task but for the sake of your own spirit you must. 


But what does that mean for me?


It means I need to be me... all the time... and let the world flow around me. While this sounds simple it's actually incredibly complicated and twisted. But for today I will make the effort. I will be me. I won't push or shove myself into the limelight, I won't throw my beliefs or life upon others. However, I will bond with what makes me who I am and I will pledge to value and cherish every moment of myself. I encourage you, the reader, to do the same. I hope you, the world, the ephemeral audience, will accept me, but if not.... if at the end of the day you turn upon me with all wrath and fury the universe can muster... well then you'll be surprised. I will not falter. I shall not fail. It is my duty to be, even if only the dimmest star, a star amidst an ocean of darkness.