Is this possible in today’s society?

Think about it.

How many people do you know—personally or know of (outside of young children)—that doesn’t have any tattoos…doesn’t drink, smoke, or do drugs?

Not only that…

Do you know, or have ever known someone, that has never got drunk or “high” from drugs…never even took a sip of coffee…not even once?

And never mind about today’s society.

How about at any point in time?

Now just to add a little more to this…

Is there anyone you know of that fits the above description who would hang out at heavy metal concerts?

After all, if you’ve ever gone to any of those concerts, or been around that type of crowd, tattoos, drinking, and doing drugs is quite often commonplace.

If you don’t know anyone like this, you would think if this type of person existed, that they’d probably be some geeky nerd with glasses…or at least that’s what they were called when I was growing up.

I know of only one person who fits this description…and this person is not some geeky nerd with glasses…although sometimes he is.

That person is me…and I do wear reading glasses.

As for being the geeky nerd…well that comes out in times of need as well.

Now there’s a good reason why I’m bringing this up…

Because it has to do with you and begins by asking the question:

Is this who you really are?

1. A world of make belief- Funny as this may seem, the question, “is this who you really are”, is answered by asking…”who are you?” Now I know that answering a question with another question is quite often not a wise thing to do. Yet in this case it’s different.

So, “who are you?”

Answering this little 3 word question does make all the difference in your life.

Why?

Because it gets you to take a deeper look at yourself…and not just in the typical ways you’ve heard from everyone else.

While answering this think about, “what do you stand for”, “what are you against”, “how do you want people to remember you”, and “what do you believe in?”

And then there’s this…

Being true to yourself.

So many times you’ll see people making up things just to impress others. Whether that’s being done in their personal lives or in their businesses in the form of their “story”, the fact is that it’s common place…which is ok.

However it’s when things are falsely made up that’s not ok.

And quite often it will be make believe.

An example of this is when you see people promoting the idea of living happy and positive lives. That’s make believe.

Why?

Because no human being lives a one sided happy and positive life. You have both sides to your nature. You’re happy and sad, nice and mean. You’ll have moments of ease and difficulty, pleasure and pain.

That’s real. That’s you being your authentic self. It’s part of who you are.

And it also has you living in a world of make belief, instead of living in the fantasy world of make believe.

Now before we come back and answer, “is this who you really are”, here’s something else to keep in mind…

2. Angels and devils- How many times have you been in situations where you were tempted to go against what you believe in because everyone else in the crowd was “doing it?” And how did you handle these situations? Did you “cave in” and did it anyway? Or did you stand your ground and say “no?”

Regardless of what decision you made, what went in to making that decision?

Did you have that little white angel on your shoulder telling you to do the “right thing” and not do it…while at the same time having that red devil holding the pitchfork and standing on your other shoulder telling you to not be a “wimp” and just do it anyway?

I can certainly relate to this.

After all, having never once tried cigarettes, drugs or getting drunk, that little angel and devil surfaced many times…right?

“Yes” and “No.”

Maybe my mother and her smoking along with her “you better not smoke or do drugs or else” statements had something to do with it. Who knows.

Yet whatever it was I just never had an interest and never “caved in” despite the peer pressure.

And the same thing with tattoos.

Now of course I don’t have anything against people who drink, smoke, does drugs, and has tattoos. It’s their life and their choice.

In fact, I’ve had friends (and even family members) who have.

What I find interesting in it is, how many of these people were tempted to the point of caving in and doing it just because the crowd was doing it?

How many of these people were being their true selves at the moment they decided to “try it” because they were following what everyone else was doing?

Any time you’ve been in a situation like this in any way, did you make your decision based on who you truly are?

Or did you make that decision just to please others…while worrying that people would ridicule you if you didn’t follow what they were doing?

Always remember this…

No matter what decision you make you’ll get people supporting and challenging you…liking and disliking you…praising and criticizing you…equally.

Along with this you’ll have people laughing at you, saying you’re crazy, and thinking you’re out of your mind…

While at the same time you’ll have people taking you seriously, saying you completely make sense, and thinking you’re totally rational.

What’s important for you is that you be true to who you really are.

And to use that so you can help and serve other people in their lives.

3. Risen Star- It’s obvious that there are both followers and leaders in the world. And both certainly serve a purpose. Just like in order for the world to exist it needs both war and peace, the same is true with followers and leaders…you need both.

Not only that…

Even in your own life they’ll be moments when you are a follower and other moments when you are the leader.

They’ll be moments when you “lay back” and be the quiet one…and then they’ll be moments when you’re the Risen Star.

And looking back on my life up to this point this has certainly been the case.

During all those “peer pressure moments” I was the quiet one who just sat in the background…

Then there were the moments when the Risen Star in me would surface.

And what’s really funny is that the closest I even got to getting drunk was during a non peer pressure moment.

It happened the last year year before I graduated from Rutgers University in New Jersey. After the final exams our instructor took us out to a local bar and paid for all the drinks.

Being that I don’t drink I had two virgin strawberry daiquiris…or so I thought they had no alcohol in them. Before I even got through the second one I started to feel light headed..and then realized that they put alcohol in there.

Why am I bringing this up?

Because when it comes to you and your life, not only does it come down to the choices you make…

It also involves those choices having both sides as outcomes…the positives and negatives.

And this leads back to the original question:

“Is this who you really are?”

Part of being your true self includes having that “weirdness” factor.

Whether that includes never once trying cigarettes, drugs, coffee, and not having tattoos…

Or whatever that uniqueness is about you, just know that is part of what makes up the magnificence and brilliance of who you are.

It’s what makes you a Risen Star.

And you being able to take that out into the world while helping others be their own Risen Star is a big part of your contribution to the world.

So as you go through your life and answer this question be sure to “pat yourself on the back” and take a moment to appreciate yourself for who you are…

Because you do make a big difference in the world.