Your true self!

We all have a basic nature that truly defines us, that genuinely shapes our personality and that we cannot escape from, no matter how hard we try. There are times when for various reasons, we disguise our real selves and try to be someone we are not. Initially, it may work but pretense doesn’t just endure for long. The sooner we accept who we are, the better it is for us and the people around us. I’ve noticed that people who are most comfortable in their skins are the ones who are most confident and contented in life. 

Today I read a well known book that conveys this message in its own way. Of course, most parents would have probably read this already! Anyway, better late than never! The book is “Leonardo, the Terrible Monster” by one of our favorite authors Mo Willems.  Looking at the title, I wondered if this was an ideal book to be read at bedtime as I didn't want Abhay to wake up in the middle of night, thanks to my monster book. But then I thought, how can a Mo Willems book not bring a smile to my little one’s face and I was right, Abhay was all smiles when he kissed me good night! This is a story of Leonardo, the monster who sucked at his job of scaring people. He was almost a laughing stock in the monster community. He wasn’t as huge, or ferocious or even weird looking like the other monsters. So he decided to find someone timid looking and scare the life out of him to reclaim his status as a monster! So he found a little boy named Sam on whom he tried to spring some of his scariest acts when the boy began to cry. At last, Leonardo felt victorious until the boy set the record straight. It turned out that the boy wept for all the wrong reasons – he had a long list of little boy woes that made him sob, and Leonardo’s scary face was not even one of them. So Leonardo finally makes a life altering decision – instead of being a terrible monster, he becomes a wonderful friend to Sam. Im not sure if the message actually sunk in, but if you happen to read this in the future, just remember Abhay - Don’t try to be something you are not, it’s not worth it. Be true to who you are and you’ll enjoy life more!