It’s exhausting trying to be someone you’re not. It doesn’t make sense to pursue dreams you don’t actually care about. Have you ever stopped to wonder why we are so bent on doing what other people expect of us? It’s silly, really. I’ve never found life from pursuing such things. On the contrary, I’ve found obligation, guilt, and fatigue. Truth be told, I’ve always been somewhat envious of the person who goes through life with confidence in exactly who they are.

I’m not trying to start a revolution, and I’m not implying being different for the sake of being different – that’s just as silly as being the same as everybody else. What I am suggesting is to just be you, and pursue what you love. Maybe the real goal is even this: to be free from our own expectations of who we think we should be. 

For example: I love writing now, but I grew up playing music. For many years it was truly the thing I loved most. I played in church competitions, made a band with my friends, and practiced in my free time. I took lessons and even self recorded a couple original songs. But as the years went by and I graduated from high school, music became a burden I continued to carry simply because it had become my identity. It became what people expected of me, or at least what I thought they expected. Finally, when I was 23, I gave up music and started exploring other things. It took about a year, but I finally realized my deep love for expressing myself through writing.

I broke free, and found new wings.

But even in writing there are expectations. Write a book, get published, and become a best selling author. Ok, no one has actually said these words to me, but that’s what I’ve always expected writers to do. Without realizing it, I had already decided that this would be my future, and because of it I was losing my hunger to write.  I was starting to worry that I wouldn’t make it as a writer when I came across a podcast that spoke about other avenues of writing and how success, like happiness, is an internal decision.

Maybe someday I’ll write a book and be an author, but that’s not my desire right now. I will focus on shorter pieces, and making my writing tight and concise. I will pursue success. Not the general populations view of it, but my own. My success will be writing pieces that come straight from my heart, and becoming a freelance writer.

I’m learning to fly.

Break free from your expectations of who you think you should be. Find your wings. Learn to fly. We’re all individuals, and God created us to be absolutely unique. Take one day to be completely real and honest with yourself and just see what happens. Go.

Image: flickr