Making Enemies By Being True To Yourself

Many of us do not realize what we believe when we look in the mirror. Many of us do not see our own image but someone else's image that we feel we must please, thinking it might be of value.  But there is no value or glory playing second fiddle to someone else. You cannot live your life with someone else's image. It means self-destruction; you become your worst enemy. 
You are your worst enemy when you want to be perfect. You become fearful of making a mistake, so you don't assert yourself; therefore, you cannot achieve happiness. You cannot gain friendship that way or in any negative way where you symbolically walk around on your knees, trying to get attention by trying to please everybody.
Friendship begins with you; you can't be a friend to others unless you are a friend to yourself. What is equally important is that you can't be a friend to everybody. We all see things differently.  That is the way it should be, and because of that, we will inevitably make enemies with people who violently disagree with us. If we firmly and honestly feel that our cause is right, we should not be afraid of making enemies but should try to maintain harmony.
There is an old Chinese proverb that says, "Just as tall trees are known  by their shadows, so are good men known by their enemies." By far, you are your worst enemy either when through fear and indecision, you live to please someone else, or when you refuse to live at all because you are fearful of making a mistake.

By Maxwell Maltz, Surgeon/Psychologist

From: Leadership...with a human touch, April 7, 1998, Pages 17-18