Skillet: I'm at war with the world cause I am never gonna sell my soul. I've already made up my mind; I can't be bought or sold
There are countless ballads and rock anthems shouting the maxim, don't give in/be yourself/just be yourself, but in these turbulent times, when the media, the pressure your peers inadvertently put on you (or your parents) or the thought of fitting in comes in factor, just how easy can it be to truly be yourself?
In a word, hard; it is a constant battle to not give in, to not flow or blend in with the crowd just because it's "cool" or "popular". And if you have a religious preference or serve Jesus, well, then it's all the more difficult to stay true to who you are because you have a million and one other voices who are all that willing to pinch in their two cents of they'd like you to become. But what about you? What about your tastes, dreams, preferences, passions? What or who do you want to become? And once you have discovered who you want to be, are you going to be the real you? When everyone is dressing out of a Hollister ad, it's okay to look like Grace Kelly or epitomize the Southern belle look. When everyone is listening to nu metal or over-synthesized pop, be different and listen to old school pop (circa 1950-70) or Parisian jazz. When everyone is talking about becoming a cheerleader or the star of the track team, go wild and join the debate team or the photography club. When did it become a crime to be different, to stand out (in a good way), to mix things up (for a positive effect), to just be you? When the whole world is screaming to be someone else, to be someone different, why don't you be who God created you to be: yourself? Being yourself makes you different because you are the only one of your kind; you are one of a kind. Be true to who you are; don't give in to the demands of your peers, school, Hollywood just so you can up your coolness factor or be popular. You can't get far in life if you are not being yourself. Ask yourself this: Am I shopping at those stores because everyone else is shopping there? Am I listening to that music because everyone else is listening to it? Am I talking like that because everyone else is going that? Am I doing that just because everyone else is doing it? We are created to be different, to be set apart from everyone else, yet being true to ourselves. If you don't like listening to the popular music or you don't like the hottest trend on the runway, who cares? You make your preferences, not everyone else. Why do you want to blend in and be like everyone else when you can stand out and shine as you? Do you really want to be like everyone else, wearing the same types of clothes, listening to the same types of music, watching the same types of shows/movies, uttering the same jargon as everyone else and having a limited vocabulary? Are you mousy and timid because the world sees you as that so you comply with the standards of someone else or are you something totally and completely different?
I think it's time to rise up and be the person who God created you to be, to be the person you really are. People want different, people want real. There is enough artificial, fake, and plastic in the world and same, mundane, blending-in-the-background people that everyone wants something genuine, something real, something different. The world needs more different, more genuine, and real people because we are experts at concealing and it's time to break that facade. It's time to be different, to be real. People want a person who is unwilling to settle for less, who is unwilling to compromise their beliefs of morals when it seems easier to give in, who is unwilling to change their conduct just to fit in, who is willing to stay true to who they are, who is unwilling to change anything about them just because someone else has a problem with it. The world needs a people who is steadfast on their identity, unwilling to give to the demands of the flesh, and refuses to be something the world wants, rather than what you (and God) wants. You've heard the phrase, "Just be yourself" before, but when did you start to live it? We are, ultimately, based on the decisions we make, choosing our own destiny (while God has a plan for each and everyone one of us, we can choose to follow or disregard it, making our own plans). Our decisions shapes our lives, including where to eat, shop, and buy, which subsequently will shape who you are.
Therefore, who do you want to be?
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