A quote to live by.

[VacuumVoodoo]

The sense of wishing to be known only for what one really is is like putting on an old, easy, comfortable garment. You are no longer afraid of anybody or anything. You say to yourself, 'Here I am --- just so ugly, dull, poor, beautiful, rich, interesting, amusing, ridiculous -- take me or leave me.' And how absolutely beautiful it is to be doing only what lies within your own capabilities and is part of your own nature. It is like a great burden rolled off a man's back when he comes to want to appear nothing that he is not, to take out of life only what is truly his own. -David Grayson, journalist and author (1870-1946)

I'm happy to say I'm very close, almost there, and wish the same for all of you.

[Structo]

Flashback?

J/K, welcome to nirvana.

[VacuumVoodoo]

Rather a flashforward, I hope

[LeftyStrat]

Great quote. I'm getting there too. It's nice being comfortable with yourself.

[Cygnus X1]

As long as we live we should still be aware of our impact on others, and we all serve someone (yeah, Dylan...).

But maturity does bring that freedom of being comfortable with our own choices and the rewards that can be brought.

Seems when I stopped trying to impress people is the same time I became much more charitable and giving.
Not for self satisfaction, but to see others hopefully enriched and self sufficient.
Doesn't always work out that way, but at least I tried?

(Note the irony).

[LeftyStrat]

Seems when I stopped trying to impress people is the same time I became much more charitable and giving.
Not for self satisfaction, but to see others hopefully enriched and self sufficient.

Same here. May be connected. When I finally started to accept myself as who I am, I also learned to accept others for what they are.

Or maybe it was the other way around. Once I learned to accept others' shortcomings, I could also accept my own.

Another favorite quote:

"It is a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one's life and find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than 'try to be a little kinder.'" - Aldous Huxley

And I think that means being kinder to others, as well as yourself.