Let’s face it. Most people end up living the life that someone else – parents, schools, society – have set out for them.
What about you? Is there any misalignment between the life you are living and the longing or desires that you can feel inside of you? Is there any misalignment between what you want for your life and what others expect of you and for you?
If you would love to create change for your life but are concerned about what will others think, if they will judge you, or things will get uncomfortable if you start challenging the status quo, then I suggest that there is some degree of misalignment between the life you’d truly love living and the one you are currently have.
Of course, none of us relish the thought of making those around us unhappy, however, 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. 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.
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 of knowing that you lived your life 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.
As Steve Jobs famously said,
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
