TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE

William Shakespeare is undoubtedly one of the finest writers to emerge from England. I have had the privilege of reading a couple of his works and I must say I was totally enthralled at the plot of his work and the amazing imagery with which he tells his stories.

I first stumbled upon this quote while I was in high school doing literature in English. Then I had the opportunity of being taught by Mr. Ogbe who really taught me how to analyze and deduce meanings to statements. I do owe that man a lot and I hope to see him someday soon just to say a big thank you.  Next was when I was in the University Studying Humanities. I still remember Mrs. Wogu who as she taught us the “man know thyself” series. It was also in this process that I again stumbled on this quote and this time it made even more sense than it did when I was in high school.

This evening I was just surfing the net and I came across this quote once again, 16 years after I first heard it and I must confess it even made a lot more sense than it did in my humanities class. Most of us are familiar with the above quote taken from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, but how many of us know this verse:  “And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou cannot then be false to any man”.

How many of us have a hard time being true to ourselves?  Those of us that gave our life to another at the cost of loosing who we are in the process will have a hard time being true to ourselves.  Allowing someone else to define who we are, we lose our ability to discover and grow inwardly.  We no longer are able to discern a truth from a lie.  For many of us, we have accepted lies for so long, that finding out what is true takes time.

As I reflected on this, it dawned on me that the biggest challenge facing humanity today is a certain denial of self, culminating in life of false pretences. Anyone who is not true to himself cannot even be true to his fellow men. Such false pretences give rise to all manner of vice; bigotry, ruthlessness, greed, etc. What else better summarizes the dire state of the world today than those few words stringed together by Shakespeare hundreds of years ago?

Perhaps if someone was true to himself and performed his duties diligently, we would not have been grieving the death of over two hundred souls in the Dana Air accident that happened on June 02, 2012. Perhaps if our leaders were true to themselves, they would have been accountable to the people rather to their friends and cronies. Perhaps a wife (or husband) who is true to herself would not have placed so much pressure on his husband (or wife) to make him consider fraud as an option. The list is endless.

The following excerpt from Dr. Irene Matiatos sheds more light,

Truth….truth is a word that brings out such negative reactions to many of us. You see truth is really an action word.  You cannot accept truth without change. Accepting truth about ourselves is difficult, especially to those of us who have been abused.  But truth does set one free if we will allow it to; it is a crucial part of healing.  It gives us the freedom to be who we are.  We are able to come to terms with our weakness (without condemnation) and appreciate our strength.  Truth gives strength; it naturally builds healthy boundaries.  Truth is open; it is honest even at the risk of being vulnerable again.  Truth is light and brings forth life.  When we walk in truth, we walk in light and when we walk in light we live a healthy life. 

Truth is also love.  The greatest act of love towards another is living a life that is truthful.  For those of us who find it difficult to love ourselves, we will find it will come more easily when we walk in truth about who we are.  If we walk in truth, we walk in perfect love, and if we walk in perfect love, then we do not walk in fear because perfect love cast out fear.  Because we have been honest with ourselves, we are able to love ourselves with all of our imperfections, knowing that we are in “process” and therefore need not have others approval.  This is freedom indeed.

The second part of this verse is a natural occurrence if we hold true to the first part of the verse.  So, when in doubt as to our motives of not being truthful with someone….look inside, are we being less than truthful to ourselves?

”This above all: to thine own self be true,

 And it must follow, as the night the day,

 Thou canst not then be false to any man.”

                         -Shakespeare-Hamlet