The Joy of "Being Me!"

I’m not sure who was the first to sing this (Sammy Davis Jr., I think, although Frank Sinatra used it a

great deal).  No matter!  It’s the words that have been ringing in my head lately.  I find one flaw with the lyrics.   

Whether I'm right or whether I'm wrong,
Whether I find a place in this world or never belong,
I gotta be me, I've gotta be me
What else can I be but what I am.

I want to live, not merely survive,
And I won't give up this dream
Of life that keeps me alive.
I gotta be me, I gotta be me.
The dream that I see makes me what I am.

That far-away prize, a world of success,
Is waiting for me if I heed the call.
I won't settle down, won't settle for less
As long as there's a chance that I can have it all.

I'll go it alone, that's how it must be.
I can't be right for somebody else
If I'm not right for me.
I gotta be free, I've gotta be free,
Daring to try, to do it or die!
I've gotta be me.

It is VERY important to be yourself rather than a clone of someone else, and it's even more important to develop the blueprint inside of you than to “remodel” yourself to be what someone else thinks is what you should be or how you should think or act.  

It is this “blueprint” — your innerkineitcs — that make you who you are.  It gives you the vision to become the only person who can do what you were uniquely designed to do.  That vision inspires you and generates the energy required to achieve that dream.  Therefore, “[Don’t] settle down…  [Don’t] settle for less!”

Being yourself and developing that blueprint will give you the fulfillment that nothing else can.  (It makes you the person who your partner fell in love with (if you have that kind of relationship).  You really “cannot be right for someone else if your are not right for [yourself].”)

So what is the flaw I find in the lyrics?

The “flaw” is in the words “Whether I’m WRONG.”  When we live in our strengths, developing that blueprint as intended, and encouraging others to develop their unique blueprints, we are RIGHT!  

When one uses “being me” as an excuse to use his or her strengths to hurt others or himself, it is WRONG, and that person is not “developing the blueprint” within.  That person is instead living in a weakness and destroying his or her potential.  And, quite frankly, that person is doing no justice to being themselves.

It is important to appreciate who you are, how you are made, and what you are meant to be.  It is just as important to recognize and appreciate the uniqueness in others and find appropriate application of each individual’s strengths.

What are your thoughts when you hear the song?