Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Are You Living Your Life?

How many people wake up and are truly happy to go to a tedious job or school everyday? You get up; get ready; head out; to go to a place where you do the same, exact thing everyday. Are you even doing something that makes you happy? Something that can help others? Are you getting something tangible out of it? Or are you just doing what you "have" to do...that you've basically been told you have to do all of your life?
When you think about it, life is one big box that most of us are put into. The box is the "standard" to how we live our lives: go to school; graduate high school; go to college; get a ["good"] degree; start your career; marry someone; have kids; put them into the same box; and support them until they can support themselves. Now, with all of that being said, I'm sure you can imagine the type of people that automatically get the opportunity to be outside of the box.
For most, this is not an ideal life. What person wants to live such a structured, monotonous life where they have no control in the bigger picture? Yes, you can control which career you go into; who you marry; when you have kids, but essentially, you do this because it is what you know you are "suppose" to do. Let's take a step back and look at our school structure. Unless you go to a special school, you will learn what "they" want you to learn. You get the same, typical education that everyone else gets...but are you like everyone else? You know when you graduate high school the next step is college. You're "prepared" for this your whole life, but are you really prepared to make the huge decision of what you want to focus on in college, to do for the rest of your life, at the young age of 18? You go to college for at least four years and you basically do the same thing just about everyday. You graduate, [hopefully] get into the career field of your choice, and work until you're stable enough to create a family. Now outside of the given nights out with your friends; birthdays; vacations, have you ever really had time to yourself to figure out what it is that you really want to do with your life? Outside of any other influences--not because of how financially set you will be or because it's what someone has, in a way, forced upon you, but because you 100% made the decision to do what you are doing with your life thus far, were you the one that made the decisions to get you where you are today?
Not to lessen your life and accomplishments thus far, but often times we accept being in this box because it is simply the norm. And deep down, many people have the urge; the drive; the passion to do so much more with themselves but suppress that feeling because it strays away from what we're "suppose" to do.
It sometimes can be the simple decision to pick up a pen and write down your thoughts to start a book; you may not do it because of the fear that it is not what you are "suppose" to be doing. As simple as it sounds, and truly is, many of us fear to do what we truly want to do because we are afraid of what it will effect. Those fears come in different ways, though. You may not see it as fear, but that's all that it is from stopping you from living outside of the box. The fear can come off as a fear of success: What if what you want to quit your 9-5 for really becomes a success for you? Are you ready for that to happen? The fear can come off as a fear of failure: What if what you want to quit your 9-5 for actually fails? What will you be able to do then? Sometimes that fear manifests in you as a feeling of it being wrong: You may crave wanting to live outside of the box, but you fear that you won't be accepted the way you should be if you try to do so. Most of us don't tell anyone that we feel as though we are living inside of this box; when we get the feeling and urge to live outside of it, we feel like it's not that big of a deal, it'll pass, and that we can just keep living the "standardized" life that we are used to.
When you have that passion and drive for something other than what you are doing with your life, it's time to answer your calling and fulfill your purpose. Don't fight the feeling that you have because you may be the next great thing outside of the box. All great people that you may look up to made the decision to step and stay outside of the box. Life is obviously not promised and is way too short for us to not live the way we want to live. Don't be afraid to try to step out of the box, let alone fear feeling that way. When it gets down to it, you know who you are better than anyway else ever will so you should never let anyone tell you to stay inside of a box that doesn't fit you. Live your life the way you want, and however you can.

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