I love you for who you are. Not the one you feel you need to be.

(Sly And The Family Stone)

Be original. Be yourself in every way. The more you do it, the happier you become. You get rooted, confident and strong, to such an extent that no one can take away your dignity - who or what you are.

When I was young, I sometimes felt guilty, ashamed and inadequate for all kinds of dumb, stupid reasons. Some older folks sat me down and reassured me: you can only be what you are. Imagine! Of all the eight billion people in this world, there is no one - no one - like you.

Isn’t that fantastic, unbelievable! You have a ‘license to be you’. That gives you the opportunity, if you simply allow yourself, to be this totally unique personality and image and character unlike any other in this whole giant world. To celebrate yourself, or at least not care about what anyone thinks of you.

You don’t have to conform or perform up to or down to anyone’s standards or expectations, except your own. In fact, you don’t have to do or be anything if you don’t want to.

This precious gift of life is yours to experiment and do what you like with. That, my friends, is liberation and something to be grateful for.

Being original takes courage, but once you develop the habit, you don’t care what anyone thinks. You are skating home free. Home to yourself. And if there is one thing I have learned, anywhere you are is home. That’s power.

Do yourself and the world a favor. Be that special entity, you, of which there is only one. You. Yes, You. Stand up and be proud of yourself and the world you create around you, which has nothing to do with how much money or education you have, how big your house is, how hot your body or car is, how cool your clothes are, how sweet you sing.

I don’t care about those things. And you shouldn’t either.

Want to spend your life making money? Do it. Want to walk barefoot all winter in a third world village? Do it.

Want to complain and be miserable? Don’t do it. You’ve got better things to do.

Like what? Like anything! Complaining and griping and blaming others - the government, the weather, your family - is convenient, lazy and an excuse to keep from working on yourself and taking responsibility. As far as I am concerned, that’s the fun part of life: getting projects accomplished (no matter how simple), making friends and waking up every day with the expectation that you are going to attack life with love and enthusiasm and energy.

It is a dichotomy: it is the simplest thing in the world - and the most difficult, too. Difficult, that is, only if you don’t do it.

When you do do that, though - when you accept and like yourself and believe in yourself - you will have a lot more compassion and patience for others. When you like yourself more, you will naturally like others more. And like everything in life more, even your challenges.

Whether you pay much attention or not, you, just you, are creating your own movie, your own life. So, strive for the life you want. Start now. It has been waiting for you forever.

This is The Day.