It’s so easy to think we are living a life of our choosing without realising the external pressure that is being put on us. We go through our day-to-day lives thinking that we are doing what is best for us when the reality is, we are so used to hearing what we should be doing and how we should be living that we end up walking someone else’s idea of what our path should look like.
Whose expectations are you living up to?
It is so easy to think that our dreams are our dreams as we grow up to become the Doctor our parents always dreamed we would be. Or the stay at home wife our husbands expected us to be. We want to make them happy so we go through our lives believing that this is what we want.
We do the things that we know will make them happy, make them proud. Instead of concentrating on what would make us happy or make us proud of ourselves. We forget to ask ourselves what do we actually want.
Sometimes, we aren’t even sure what we would do if we did follow our own hearts. What choices would we make? Would we carry on along this same path or would we do something completely different?
We neglect to consider what we need. What we want to wake up for every day. What our own purpose might be.
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What I thought I was meant to do
I always thought I’d be lawyer. As far back as I could remember, I was playing “lawyer” when other little girls were playing “house.” The older I got, the more certain I became that this was the path for me.
When I finally got into law school, it made my life hell! I was absolutely miserable and dreaded every single day. It was only after I failed law school and was forced to choose a new path when I realised that it had perhaps never been my dream. That also explained why no matter how much effort I put into it, I just couldn’t get things right. There was NO passion in it.
Now as I think back, I remember my family talking to me about the family lawyer. I remember them discussing it around me all the time. The seed was planted in my head at such a young age that I had no idea at all that this was not my dream from the start.
Instead, I loved to write
Poetry, stories, even just the lyrics of songs playing on the radio. In my heart I was and always have been a writer. It just took me a really long time to accept that I wasn’t destined for law. Instead, I was destined to spend my days putting words out into the world. That is what makes me happier than most things.
You see, life has a funny way of showing you in little signs, the path you’re supposed to take. You may not always pay attention to those signs, you may not always follow the right path for you but what matters is that you’re living a life of value. Of value and purpose to you.
No one else spends their days living your life, only you know what really matters and what makes you happy. Don’t let someone else dictate what that life should look like.
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Maybe it’s time to change your life
If this sounds like you, and as you’re reading along you’re thinking of the influence that your father, your mother, your husband, your high school best friend has had on the path you’ve chosen, ask yourself if the life you’re living makes you happy!
Ask yourself whose expectations are you living up to!
If your answer doesn’t make you happy, then maybe it’s time to change your life!
