Myself
(page 5)
I am a teacher. It's how I define myself. A good teacher isn't someone who gives the answers out to their kids but is understanding of needs and challenges and gives tools to help other people succeed. That's the way I see myself, so whatever it is that I will do eventually after politics, it'll have to do a lot with teaching.
I don't go by or change my attitude based on what people say. At the end of the day, they, too, are judging me from their perspective. I would rather be myself and let people accept me for what I am than be somebody who I am not, just because I want people's approval.
Love myself I do. Not everything, but I love the good as well as the bad. I love my crazy lifestyle, and I love my hard discipline. I love my freedom of speech and the way my eyes get dark when I'm tired. I love that I have learned to trust people with my heart, even if it will get broken. I am proud of everything that I am and will become.
Some days are just bad days, that's all. You have to experience sadness to know happiness, and I remind myself that not every day is going to be a good day, that's just the way it is!
I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation.
I couldn't find the sports car of my dreams, so I built it myself.
I tore myself away from the safe comfort of certainties through my love for truth — and truth rewarded me.
Every day, I like to wake up and remind myself to be grateful of the simple things.
I liked myself better when I wasn't me.
I don't work with a stylist, I don't work with a glam squad to get me together for the red carpet, I really enjoy the time it takes to do it myself, to choose my clothes and do my own makeup and my own hair.
I just find myself happy with the simple things. Appreciating the blessings God gave me.
There have been times when I have goofed up, and like every adolescent, I sometimes did get led the wrong way. I would come back home really scared to face my mom's wrath and anger, but surprisingly, I never got to face one. She would always tell me in a very nice manner that what I did was wrong and that I should correct myself.
If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive.
The single most powerful thing I can be is to be myself.
When I spend money on myself, it's almost always on shoes and clothes. I'm addicted to shoes. I always have been, since I was a kid. When I was young, I could never get the shoes I really wanted.
Twitter and Facebook are such amazing networks for me to introduce myself to the world and for fans around the world to introduce themselves to me.
Money doesn't mean anything to me. I've made a lot of money, but I want to enjoy life and not stress myself building my bank account. I give lots away and live simply, mostly out of a suitcase in hotels. We all know that good health is much more important.
Everyone has their own path in life, no matter if it's being a celebrity or a singer. Quite frankly, I didn't move to Nashville and tell myself I wanted to be a singer because I wanted to be a celebrity or I wanted to be somebody that people admired. I wasn't about that. I just loved music.
I don't want to forgive myself. That's why I hate psychoanalysis I think if you're guilty of something you should live with it. Get rid of it — how can you get rid of a real guilt? I think people should live with it, face up to it.
I've made the commitment to Canadians that I'm going to stay myself, and I'm going stay open about it, and I'm going to make sure that the thoughtfulness with which I approach issues continues to shine through.
