"Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken."
This is sage advice from Oscar Wilde: "Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken." Scared of disagreeing with your friends? In the past, have you bent your morals to fit in? Have you ever met an ornery old man that tells the truth no matter what, and people like him despite his candor? Pretending to be something you're not won't get you where you want to go. Honesty is the best policy. Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.
What is normal anyway? Is normal the average of everyone else? If so, how can you ever be extraordinary when you're bounded by your conception of normal behavior? Have you ever seen someone in traffic jamming to a song, singing without inhibition while stopped at a red light? Gain that courage. It's within you to dance in the rain. Next time you walk by some pretty flowers, stop and smell them. It's okay to seem obscure to others. Don't be ashamed to march to the beat of your own drum.
There are billions of people in the World, and at any given time 99.9999% of them are not paying attention to what you're doing. Next time you're in the grocery store, pay attention, and you'll notice that the other people are mainly concerned about what they are doing. They have their entire little World churning in their heads - chores, kids, worries, ambitions, engagements, and everything else under the Sun except you. Don't be limited by what you think other people will think.
Build a moral foundation. Evil people that hate almost everything have built their houses on sand. Everything is a disaster to their fragile World. It's always too cold or too hot. Their plans didn't work out exactly as expected, so they're upset. Adversity is met with anger instead of calm persistence. Instead, build your house on a foundation of stone. Expect imperfect conditions. Adapt to surprises. Overcome obstacles. Choose to do the right things as your conscience dictates.
Respect the guidance of that little voice in your head that points you in the right direction. I'm talking about the voice that causes you to say things like, "Man, I told myself to ..." This is the kind of statement that determines definitively that you are not listening to your Moral Conscience. This includes little things like keeping your space clean to big things like don't jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. Your life will begin to optimize when you start listening. Mark these words.
Other people will come and go in and out of your life - girlfriends, boyfriends, friends, loved ones, ruthless people, etc. The only person that will be with you 100% of your life is you! The only reason you ever need is "My conscience said..." This is an acceptable response. Other reasons are excuses, cop-outs, or rationalizations. As long as you're yourself, apologies will be unnecessary. Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.
I have always been that way, because this world doesn't appreciate diversity.For me too, I know the Lord actually helps us become who we really are during our journey with Him, and its more attractive to the spirit.
In life, building individual character from experience is invaluable. People come and go. Few remember who were rich or who were poor or who were powerful and who were not. People remember Jesus. Few remember Emperor Tiberius. Individuality is worth embracing. We owe it to ourselves for the betterment of the World at large.