Let’s face it. Most people end up living the life that someone else – parents, schools, society – have set out for them.
The fact that you are here, reading this article is a good indication that there is some sort of misalignment between the life you are living and the longing or desires that you can feel inside of you. There is something in your life that you want to change or to shift. And it may not align with how others expect you to be or to do.
But what will others think? Will they judge you harshly? Will things get uncomfortable if you make that change?
Maybe. Or maybe not.
And whilst you may love them dearly and not want to make them unhappy, the thing to remember is that their happiness is their own responsibility – not yours.
Your happiness is your responsibility.
If you have to live in unhappiness in order to maintain someone else’s happiness, there is something very out of balance in that relationship. To be honest, if someone demands that you be, do or live a certain way in order to maintain their happiness, they are manipulating you in order to feel some level of control over their lives.
They have expectations about how things should be. How you should be. That provides them with a level of certainty and control.
But when you do something that falls outside of their expectations, they can feel as though they are losing control.
The question is – do you want to compromise who you are, and how you want to live your life so that someone else can feel like they are in control of their own lives?
You have one life. It is a precious gift. Yes, of course you have responsibilities and fulfilling those responsibilities may take up a portion of your time on this earth. However, if you find that your entire life is revolving around meeting other people’s expectations, or keeping others happy at the expense of your own happiness, then it’s time for something to change.
At the end of the day – well, at the end of your life – do you want to be left with feelings of regret and resentment? Or would you prefer to look back over your life with the satisfaction that you lived it fully and true to yourself?
Each of us has been given this gift of a life. Just one. Just our own. Our job is to live our life, not someone else’s.
