Aspire To Be Whom?

Someone once asked me what it is I aspire to be, and followed up that question by asking me who, if anyone, I would pick to emulate or be like.  My response was no one.  I do not aspire to be like or emulate anyone other than me. 

Oftentimes, we only see that outside shiny, glittery appearance that looks good and paints a pretty picture, but we do not know what it took to get to that pretty picture, or what is going on beneath the surface.  We do not know what may be the underlying emotions that we cannot see in that beautiful outside appearance. 

As many know all too well, someone could smile in your face one day and appear extremely happy, and the next day you receive word of their attempted or successful suicide.  Then you sit there trying to fathom what happened, because based on their outside appearance, you would have never thought that they were sad or depressed.  By the way, click here to check out my previous blog article entitled “Masks.”

I feel like when people ask such questions, they are only looking at the surface level of what they see.  They see a person that appears to have a great life, is successful by their standards, has a lot of money, travels the world, and just overall appears to have everything that they could ever want, and they think that your answer will be based on someone that has accomplished such things. 

However, do not get me wrong.  There are things that I absolutely aspire to accomplish such as financial freedom through wealth, being a successful author and playwright and so much more.  I envision my dream home, dream travel destinations, my future spouse and the love that we will share, my dream vehicles and so on, that I know I am going to achieve.  Through me being wealthy, I will be able to accomplish other things such as inspiring, encouraging, motivating, and helping even more people, but I do not wish to do this as anyone else per se.  I would much rather be me. 

I think about how some people look at others and wish they were them, or at a minimum, they wish to be in their position.  They see for example, a woman on social media jet setting, attending yacht brunches, shopping at exclusive boutiques, always smiling with her significant other, and more.  What we may not see is that bruise that her makeup is covering that is the result of her significant other abusing her just a few days prior.  But on social media, they look happy and everything seems perfect. 

Let me be clear, there is nothing wrong with taking certain aspects of a person’s life and wanting to be that.  For example, let’s say that you want to be a famous talk show host.  You may say something like you aspire to have a talk show that was as popular as the Oprah Winfrey Show.  However, you have to be careful in saying that you want to be Oprah herself, because in addition to her billions that she has now, you must take all that she had to ensure to get to where she is today.  When you say that you want to be someone, you are not just saying that you want to be them now, but you also want to be them along every step, good or bad that it took for them to be where they are today.  Be careful what you ask for.

So whenever someone asks me whom I aspire to be or emulate, I simply tell them that I aspire to be the best version of me.  I was put on earth to fulfill my mission and to live in my purpose, which includes figuring out and utilizing all of the gifts that have been bestowed upon me.  I do not aspire to be like anyone else.