Dear all,

I’m reading a biography called “40 Ways to Look at Winston Churchill” by Gretchen Rubin. The introduction alone is enough to recommend the book. In it, Ms. Rubin captures an essential truth: “Churchill’s portrait could be drawn in innumerable ways, all “true.”” From the facts of Churchill’s life, his biographers have exaggerated some details and glided over others, painting the Churchill that they each believed to be the true man. And so it is with each of us.

As you go through life, the people around you are writing your biography. Each person you meet has a perception of you that is wholly his or her own, colored by value and belief systems that may or may not agree with yours. Because you are perceptive yourself, every once in a while you will get a glimpse of others’ images of you. Some will lift you up, and others will make you feel horrible. Given that, how much should you buy into other people’s perceptions of you?

The less, the better. You truly have no control over the way others perceive you. The only perception of yourself over which you have complete control is your own. It is your perception of yourself that is the most critical and precious of all. The way you view yourself is either your greatest tool or greatest detriment.

Let me encourage you to perceive yourself in the most positive way possible. Consider yourself a valuable and essential contribution to humankind, because you are. The utterly unique expression of your soul is your greatest gift to both yourself and the rest of us. Don’t waste it worrying about what others think.

Instead live boldly, and let the biographers write what they will.

In possibility—

—Kim