There is a saying that we hear often this day and time. Many look at it in very high regard. They say not many can make this claim either. It is called “keeping it real”. I have seen many people that others say they admire for this reason above all others. I have also seen the very ones that are labeled as keeping it real adorn a mask. If on Sunday you find yourself in a church or any place of worship and while there you refrain from using drugs, alcohol, and curse words. You refrain from lighting your cigarettes or dipping your snuff, yet no sooner than you step outside or perhaps away from the property you revert to the habits you just refrained from, how then, are you keeping it real? Well, who is it that you don’t wish to see or hear these things that you refrain from? Is it other members of the congregation?… Why? Surely once out in the general public you have no qualms saying an expletive word or two and enjoying your tobacco. Or perhaps it is the one that you worship you refrain yourself for. All the while knowing that it is not possible to truly hide the truth of your true self at all. While in the public eye do you walk into a place of business with a marijuana joint in one hand and a drink in the other? Or is this something you hide from the public eye so as not to give an ill impression of yourself? I wonder if while driving down the road, do you wait until you see an officer of the law to speed, run red lights, or stop signs, or is this also something you do only when you feel you can do so without being noticed or caught? When you see a beautiful woman or a handsome man, do you go up to them and tell them you think they are sexy and you want to sleep with them? Or, are these thoughts racing through your head perhaps shared only with a like-minded friend? When you visit your Saintly mother, do you do so while being under the influence of drugs and or alcohol? Why not? This is the person that devoted her life to teaching you right from wrong. Why wouldn’t you feel right about her seeing the real you? When you reach out to someone offering a helping hand, is it truly with an open mind and giving heart that you do so? Or, is it from pity or false pretense all the while seeking a reward for yourself in some form? If the truth is known there are very few, if any of us at all that is truly worthy of the label “Keeping it real”. If you truly are real, you are exactly what everyone else sees, any time you are seen by anyone at any place you go. Before you lay claim to such a title ask yourself if you can truly lay down your own book of life for all to see……the real you. If not, you like most everyone else, adorns a mask most of their days, removing it only for a chosen few to see, the REAL you.
Simply my thoughts
Dean Butler
