Be Real.

I sit here, alone, at 2.30 in the morning, watching and listening to the sea crashing on my doorstep.

I listen hesitantly to what is happening inside - my friend is having what I can only describe as a lost identity crisis - he is scared that he has changed into someone that he doesn't want to be...

I sit watching a fisherman - doing what he loves best.  It's pitch dark.  He places his rod standing upright on one end of the beach and pulls the fishing gut across the length of the beach, untangling it as he walks.  Once it is fully unrolled he leaves it and walks back to his things.

No fuss.  No rush.  Just authentic.  Real.

No less than 5 minutes later, 3 young teenagers (1 girl and 2 boys) come walking along the beach.  The boys are frolicking in the now ice-cold water while the girl carries their shoes and meanders behind.  They get perilously close to the fishing gut which is totally invisible to the naked eye in this light.

My friend, who I hadn't realised had come out onto the veranda, shouts: "Hey!  Guys, just be careful of the fishing line."  The girl, hearing what he said, looks up with a smile to see who has warned her.  She then replies: "Thank you, we've already seen it - but thank you."

He smiles back.

I turned to him and say: "That's who you are.  That's who you want to be."

He looks at me with eyes wider than ever.  His instinct had broken through and he didn't even think about it - and he shouted out to total strangers, looking out for their safety.

At 2.30 in the morning.

Be Real.

Be you, not because you want to, but because you have to.

Don't fall into the vicious cycle of trying to fit into society's moulds.

You don't have to be one or the other, it's not black and white.

Go with your gut, trust your instinct and stop trying to be someone else.