Bulletproof

I wish I had thick skin. Didn’t worry about what people thought or said about me. Could feel like I’m free to be the me I am.

Like Sia I could say:

"I’m criticized, but all your bullets ricochet. You shoot me down, but I get up. I’m bulletproof. I am titanium."

As it is, unlike Sia, I am not titanium. I’m more like a latex balloon. Not as square as a box, but still confined to a standard shape and size. It’s time to slip this skin and break free! Be who I want to be. But that can be dangerous. I’ve reconnected with an old friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said:

"Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage."

Thanks, Sia –– and Ralph. Doggone it. I am summoning the courage to be myself in a world that is constantly trying to make me something else.

I’m bulletproof.