One of the most important life lessons that I learned when I was in the hospital/going through speech therapy to learn how to speak again, physical therapy to learn how to walk again, and psychological therapy, to get my mindset right, before re-entering the real world, was this…..
A person can try to please others, by being/acting like how they feel others would want them to be/act, or a person can be themself.
If a person chooses to be themself, they may not make others happy, but they will make themselves, and the people who truly care about them happy.
While I was learning to talk again, I was in the shower, no one else was around, and one of my favorite songs came on the radio. I decided to try to sing along.
The song is by the Foo Fighters. It’s called “Times like these”. The words to the song go like this- “It’s times like these you learn to live again. It’s times like these you give and give again. It’s times like these you learn to love again.”
When I tried to sing the words, I couldn’t. At that point, with everything that was going on at the time, I was at just the right amount of frustrated, pissed off, and feeling sorry for myself, that I was very emotional. One little thing could break me or build me.
When I tried to sing, and the words wouldn’t come out, I immediately started crying and slowly sat down in the shower. And then it hit me! In a single moment, I realized I wasn’t meant to sing the words at that moment. I was meant to hear the words.
I heard the words to the song loud and clear! It was then, at that exact moment, I realized I was done trying to please others. From that moment forward, I was going to be myself, whether others liked me or not. You know why? Because the others I was trying to please before I ended up in the hospital, weren’t there for me while I was in the hospital, but you know who was? That’s right, the people who truly cared about me were there, and they loved me for exactly who I was/am!
In conclusion, if you have never been in a situation where you could die, or never be able to live your full life again, as you did before that situation, let me tell you what you will likely be thinking.
You will likely be thinking about all of the time you wasted, or focused on the things that didn’t/don’t matter, like trying to please others.
If you are already being yourself, that’s great! More power to you! If you aren’t, I hope you make the decision to choose to be yourself.
When you choose to be yourself, you won’t make everyone happy, but you will make yourself and the people who truly care about you happy, and that’s all that matters.
Sincerely,
Michael “MJ The Terrible” Johnson
