You fight by being yourself
You lose by losing yourself
You win by remaining yourself
Improving yourself, perfecting yourself
As yourself
Your deepest and highest and purest self.

When you‘re not good enough for someone
Don’t respond by becoming someone else
Stay quietly yourself, your authentic self -
When you’re too good to be true in someone’s view
Don’t adjust and lower yourself to their comfort level
Stay proudly yourself, your honest self -
Just strive to be the best version of yourself.

You can only attract those in tune with yourself
When you show yourself -
And if they are few and far between
It’s still worth is. The loneliness is mean
Crushing and worse when you’re not yourself.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river