"I've Gotta Be Me"

This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox.

January 15, 2016 prompt:   “Life Swap:  Switch places with someone for a day. Who would you swap with. Someone famous? Someone anonymous? Tell us who – and why!”

"I've Gotta Be Me"

Reading the prompt, I wondered who might I choose? I truly can’t come up with anyone I’d rather be than me.

Rich, like Trump?  Nah, I’ve been a supervisor, been on national TV, and been responsible for firing someone. Besides, I already have my own hair issues, I don’t need his.

Powerful, like a politician? Don’t make me laugh!  There is no way I’d ever be PC enough for a life in politics. My motto is, “If you don’t want me to tell you the truth as I see it, don’t ask me for my opinion.”

Beautiful, like a beauty pageant queen? Outer beauty is subjective and fades.

Smart, like Steven Hawking or Marilyn vos Savant?—okay, smart might be okay.

Humanitarian, like Mother Theresa?  A worthy goal.

Philanthropic,  Like Carnegie? Again, another worthy goal.

Jesus?  No one can top Him.

Talented—There are so many talented writers, musicians, artists, etc., I can’t even begin to come up with the categories, let alone the actual people!

The "problem" is, I like who I am, and the life I live. If I changed anything, it might be wishing I had started my career earlier—but then I realize I would not be the same person as I am today. Every person I have come into contact with, and  every experience I have had, have shaped me into the person I am today. That means, even if I changed just the timing of college, I would not be the person I am today. I would have met different people, and experienced different events. I would be totally different than I am. So, in answer to the question of who I would swap my life with—even for a day, I say no one….and, because I’m an unrepentant dweeb, I break out in the Broadway song, “I Gotta Be ME!!!”  And even though it was sung by the likes of Sammy Davis, Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, and Tony Bennett, among others, I see Ethel Merman belting it out  (like when she sings “Everything’s Coming up Roses”).

I kind of like that idea. Maybe I could be Ethel Merman for a day. Or Gypsy Rose Lee—but not for the reason you think!  She was a burlesque queen that left them wanting more—and introduced the USA to the Chinese Crested.  Maybe GRL’s who I should be after all—besides, I already have the dog!

I’ve Gotta Be Me (Walter Marks)

Whether I'm right or whether I'm wrong

Whether I find a place in this world or never belong

I gotta be me, I've gotta be me

What else can I be but what I am

I want to live, not merely survive

And I won't give up this dream

Of life that keeps me alive

I gotta be me, I gotta be me

The dream that I see makes me what I am

That far-away prize, a world of success

Is waiting for me if I heed the call

I won't settle down, won't settle for less

As long as there's a chance that I can have it all

I'll go it alone, that's how it must be

I can't be right for somebody else

If I'm not right for me

I gotta be free, I've gotta be free

Daring to try, to do it or die

I've gotta be me. 

I'll go it alone, that's how it must be

I can't be right for somebody else

If I'm not right for me

I gotta be free, I just gotta be free

Daring to try, to do it or die

I gotta be me