(don't) be yourself

I have never really agreed with the phrase “just be yourself” until recently.

Certain events have required me to change a lot about the way I operate and live, and NGL, I struggled with the change. I used to keep wondering “Why me?” or “Why do I need to change?” because I felt the urge to just be myself.

Then for some reason, the social media algorithm worked magic. Showed me a clip of Ronaldo, and most importantly, it showed the change before and after 2014. Everyone who’s an avid football fan knows about the knee injury that required him to move from the tricky winger to formidable goal poacher. Lot of people used to mock him for the transition, but it was forced upon him if he wanted to continue playing at the highest level.

So he could have chosen to complain and moan about it, or he could accept reality and become the best poacher the world has ever seen.

More than a decade after the injury, even his biggest critics would have to admit that he did exactly the latter. Driving Real Madrid towards the three-peat, Ronaldo would score everytime they needed a goal. The hattricks against Wolfsburg, Bayern and Atlético, that header against PSG in the return leg where he appeared like a tower of terror among the smoke, that penalty right at the death against Juventus, and that iconic goal in the first leg…he was simply spectacular. His exploits with Portugal were even more impressive considering the difference in quality of teammates - that header against Wales en route to glory at Euro 2016, and that iconic hattrick against Spain in the World Cup.

All this because Ronaldo did not resist the need to reinvent himself. Be like Ronaldo. Don’t be yourself when reinvention is the need of the hour.