Be firm or you will be knocked down

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night

Vonnegut's point is that we each play the role of the person we believe ourselves to be, rather than who we really are.

Sometimes who we really are is not socially acceptable or is so distant from what our social and work associates believe is how people should be that "being yourself" is just plain risky.

However, playing a role is challenging too. It means being fairly consistent about what we do and say. It also means being about to defend the positions we take against opposition from those who have different beliefs.

We need to be careful about what role we choose to play to project ourselves into society because we may have to defend it vigorously against those who believe that way is wrong.

Be firm enough in your beliefs that you can't be downed by someone who argues well against you.

Bill Allin
'Turning It Around: Causes and Cures for Today's Epidemic Social Problems,' striving to help each person keep their head erect when others are trying to knock it off.
Learn more at http://billallin.com/cgi/index.pl