Push.

The best advice is always the hardest to follow.  Example: Be yourself.  As a child you're told this and you think "how could I possibly be anyone else? That's rediculous, I'm already myself."  And as you grow older, you somehow lose yourself, and when you finally get told that advice again, you're stumped. It's not a matter of being yourself, it's suddenly a matter of finding yourself.  "Who am I?" is the question you ask yourself more than anything else.  All of the possibilities, between school and friends and life choices and all of the pressures that come with it.  What do you like? What do you not like? Do you want to be a party animal or a straight A student? Do you want to dye your hair black or green?  Do you want to work at McDonalds or in an office? Questions that you're convinced will surely change you into someone you may not want to be, if you're not careful.  Some are very careful, others would rather yell out Y.O.L.O. and see what happens to them.

In the long run, somewhere in the next ten years of your life, you figure out that "being yourself" means to do what makes you feel at home wherever you are. As Howard Therman once said: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” And he's right.  The world will always have busy workers, people who tried and gave up to find out how to "be themselves".  The world doesn't need anymore of those people, because anyone who truly loves where they are has worked hard to get there.  They've faced relentless rejection and harsh circumstances, countless people telling them it wasn't for them, or that they should do something else, or worse yet: that they wouldn't amount to anything.  These people are toxic, or worse yet trying to use you for their own agenda.  As difficult as it is, sometimes taking years it seems, you must push forward.  The great writers were ALL rejected, some even passed away before their brilliance was discovered.  Great musicians were turned down, business men, inventors, all of them.  Albert Einstein was told he would never amount to anything.

Where am I going with this? NO ONE has the right to tell you who you are.  No one should be able to push you around.  Don't ever let anyone feel like you don't deserve what you want, go for it.  Whether it be writing, music, inventing, teaching, working with animals, or any other career or dream that you know you're destined to have.  God puts these desires in your heart for a reason, he never promised that life would be easy -only that it would be worth it.  So persevere, push your way forward.  Don't let other people push you around.  Deep inside, you have the answers.  You know who you are, and you know what you want.  So with that I repeat: "Be yourself."

Love,
Alice