To Bend or Break
Between the economy, the hunt for value, real value in life and the slipping level of personal values we are caught at many points for making decisions. These aren’t Earth shattering ones, those major moments when we must chose a path, but instead the insidious ones. These are the small choices that we scarcely notice until we’ve made a dozen or so and look back to wonder what went wrong, why we’re in the emotional turmoil that we find ourselves inhabiting.
These small choices are really small compromises. We give up a little to ‘get along’. When we do this we never ask, “Why?” Why do I need to get along? Why must I compromise my beliefs to meet your standards? The honest answer is that we don’t need to bend our lives to droop into another’s because they say so. When we follow this approach we ultimately break from who we are and slowly become who we don’t wish to be, “That guy, or woman”.
Oh, choosing to not go along has a price, nothing is free. There is the ostracizing in social situations or family or the reduced pay or possible termination when done at work. Yet, even with this cost there needs to be a reward. This one is simple and all encompassing; it is the ability to live with yourself.
The next time you find yourself in an emotional turmoil look at the source, something easily done with a mirror. You chose to follow another’s lead and now inhabit not your life, but theirs. You get to enjoy their misery without hope of joy, the doubt without the resolution and the future they want you to have. Even now, you have the choice to resume your path and your life, simply by choosing to return to the path you were originally on, going in the direction that best suits your goals. Remember, wherever you are is the place that you choose to be and feel.
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Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 10:50 pm under
