Being Yourself

FRI., JUNE 15, 1990, 5:25 AM
FARM, STUDY

The culture of which you are a part encourages you away from being yourself. As a fairly dutiful member of this society you have tended to comply. There are rewards for being what you should be rather than just being yourself, so you have made compromises. I am not against this. As Jesus, even I, who was perfect, made some trade-offs. So let’s talk about being yourself on this fine summer morning.

When you are young it is impossible to be yourself entirely. The reality is that you are in the process of creating a self, and there must be some experimentation with various pressures to be… one way and then another. You wanted to be a good Comus and a good athlete, and these were important aspects of yourself as a teenager. These tended to pull you away from studies and from the church. Yet your true self knew that these would ultimately be more important in your life, so you remained a good student, and you remained an active member of your church youth group.

It as important for yourself that you not be a drinker as a youth and young adult. This non-behavior prevented certain associations, but, rightly, you were true to yourself, and you developed as you should. The fact that you are not an abstainer now is of no consequence. You are comfortable with this aspect of your life… even with the occasional excesses.

You are enjoying the teaching role now, for you know that this is your major focus as a professional. You continue to be frustrated by competing demands, but you realize that this is a part of being yourself. I urge more on you than you can do easily. You have motivations of your own that are other than Mine. These compete. Time seems finite. This brings frustration.

So I’ll tell you that I, in My perfection, have similar frustrations with you. I chose you and influenced you way before you were aware of My presence in your life. I wanted you to be a well-established professional, but to be such you could not do all that I desired most. This is less so now, but I still must accept some compromises. Here’s how I must say it honestly: if you became what I want you to be completely, you would not be who you would be comfortable with and not the person I want and can use. Whew!

Life is simpler for you now than when you were a young professional and family man. If it had been simpler then your life would not be as good as it is now. You see that having a vision of the future was of more benefit, in those earlier years, than living just for the present.

Being yourself is an artful combination of trying and not trying. In one sense you should not try, but just should BE. But the other sense is that you still are pressured to be other than you should be, and so you have to try to remain who you are… and should be. There still are choices, both short and long range. Choices you make help sustain you as who you are, and also are part of the continuing development of self.

Every age is a good age, for you personally as well as for your culture. You do well in not giving much thought to your retirement years… and yet these later years shall come, and some preparation is good. Continue to consider various scenarios, but know that as your teaching/professional role winds down you shall turn more to Me and My tasks for you. Don’t try to discern what this shall mean. As long as you are in this communication with Me you will know all that you need to know.