Be yourself

I see a lot of write ups giving tips and guidelines...even advice...on how best to handle a relationships. Most are great and really make logical sense. Usually, somewhere in the feedback you notice a particular line that always manages to creep in: BE YOURSELF.
Its probably the most common advice and also the hardest to practice.
I'm not really a fan of hypocrisy and practising what you preach requires so much dedication, tenacity and discipline its almost an art. Now if you've been in a relationship that failed, you've probably realized that it takes the GRACE of GOD to make it work and if you are in your first relationship then you better write this down. Grace aside, BEING YOURSELF being our focus, it strikes me as odd the way people interpret this statement. You're a jerk and you treat women like crap and you want to BE YOURSELF? All you see men as are means to an end and so you provide your body as barter and you want to BE YOURSELF? No one is born bad. But the choices we've made have shaped us into the people we are today. A wise man once told me "everybody changes and in that we all are the same". If choices make the person, what then does it mean to BE YOURSELF? We go out of our way to impress people we believe we can get something from. We dress our best to get that dream job. We adjust our tone when we finally get to meet the president...ask yourself why? I think...and also believe there exist a better explanation...that we innately want to be perceived as good and so we sometimes mask our true selves to create a better impression of ourselves. I also think if you can pretend to be good then it is also possible to BE good. Now if your choices make you then why not choose to be good so when you choose to BE YOURSELF it will be good? I started with relationships because I think we all can relate to that. However this idea is not limited to relationships alone. I believe anyone can change save the devil. I believe it starts with a choice. So now I ask, if you do choose to BE YOURSELF, who will you be?