Every human being is a litmus test for other human beings. The way I respond to you has a lot to do with me and a little to do with you. The way you respond to me has a lot to do with you and a little to do with me. That's why you should never let me have the final word on you. I may be responding to my father when I respond to you. You may have a way of smiling that reminds me of an abusive ex and makes me head for the hills. Your way of looking at the world may scare me, so I make up reasons to define you as evil and shut you out. My religion may define an aspect of what you are, or what you bring out in me, as sin, so I avoid you for fear of going to hell if I don't. Always let your truest, most honest self (not the dishonest defense mechanisms making excuses for unhealthy behavior) have the last word on you. Because you live in your head all the time. You respond to the world through your unique lens. You care about you more than anyone else. (Even self- destruction is self-interest gone awry.) And in the end, you are the only person who has to live 24/7 with the consequences of your decisions. Your friends don't have to live with the man they want you to marry, or stay married to. Your parents don't have spend nine hours a day at the job they want you to take. Your enemies don't have to live with the loneliness and isolation you impose on yourself when you go into hiding to escape their scrutiny. Live big. Live you. Live free. Live your life like it is a precious and limited gift, because it is. Live every day like it might be your last, because it could be. Live like no one cares as much as you think they do about what you do. Because in reality, they don't. They are too busy thinking about them. Say what you need to say before it is too late. Live your moments like you want to live them before your chances run out. Be. Be. Be. Soon, you will be on your deathbed, and your opportunity to be you will have come and gone. Don't rob the world of its only shot at you by being someone else.
