Article 206: Don't Be A Hypocrite; Be Yourself

I am extremely angry at the moment. Why? Some folks want me to be a hypocrite, all in the name of impressing other people. Okay, let me make no bones about it. A section of my readership who know me in person claim that my whole personality is out of sync with my purely intellectual capacity. Yes, I am a writer of genius. Yet I have an eccentric personality, a rowdy posture, a teenage spirit, a skinny physique, and maybe unfashionable looks. Well, I dare not pretend to be someone else. Oh I am so sorry to disappoint such people. I cannot change those attributes of mine since they are now inseparable from my social make-up. I will forever stay true to myself, and not to be a damn hypocrite. I am originality personified.

However, most people endeavour to change their way of life just to please other people. Nonsense! Your way of life is your personal culture. It influences the course of your life. How many people can echo Frederick Douglas's defiant assertion? He strongly declared that, "I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false and to incur my own abhorrence." Remember, being hypocritical will surely lead to retrogression or stagnation. And don't you know that imitation is limitation?

Also, originality really pays off. "Be yourself. The world worships the original," as Ingrid Bergman stated. For "it is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation," according to Herman Melville. There are a lot of fake people around; only the original ones have guaranteed greatness. So be yourself and original in every facet of life - career, faith etc. Nii Bavard, a student writer in UCC, has this dazzling piece of advice for you, "Be original with what you do. Don't follow the crowd. Be yourself and get better at it. Life is too short to be a plagiarist." Need I say more?

Moreover, I want to share some inspiring stories of originality with you. Sarkodie maintained his stage name "Sarkodie" because he found out that it was associated with rich men, though several people thought it was too local and so ordinary. I also love Donald J. Trump because he is original in character. He wrote, "One reason people like me is because I'm blunt. One reason people don't like me is because I'm blunt." Ha-ha, Shatta Wale has always been a rowdy guy, and he has managed to capitalise on that to boost his music career by leaps and bounds. And some friends here in UCC want the Educated Cocoa Farmer (ECF) to change his nickname as he intends to vie for the Valco Hall presidency. But he is adamant that he is not going to change it.

Source: sirarticle.blogspot.com