"Today, it's almost impossible to breakfree from expectations. People who hold significant places in our hearts set ideals for us."
Sometimes it’s almost impossible to break free from expectations. People who hold significant places in our hearts set ideals for us. For example, my mother wants me to be gentle. Father wants me to act like a real man. My classmates want me to be jolly. The organizations I am in expect me to be competent and productive. And as I live up to most of these expectations, I also reach the limit of freaking out.
It’s a sad fact that most of us are driven by others. We move to please them. We allow others to determine our attitudes by their ideas and expectations. Because we need to maintain relationships, we base our actions on the idea of pleasing others. We submit to the conditions they impose and oftentimes, we submit to a life of scrambling pretense. Eventually, we no longer know ourselves.
Other people would often resort to pretense. A very tough take, and it gets tougher and tougher as a person pretends longer. Their significant others might be proud of them and more people will seek their company. But the truth is, they will never learn to be proud of themselves. They may have lots of friends but they have lost their friendship with their self. They may feel nice because they meet the demands of others but still, they’d feel empty because they were not able to satisfy their own needs. Over time, they allow others to drive them in keeping and maintaining relationships to keep criticisms at bay. Sometimes, feeling faultless will not make us happy instead it leaves us feeling betrayed by our own ideals.
There’s nothing wrong with being yourself. If you want to have the sense of being who you are, you should learn how to handle criticisms and feel secure in the face of your critics. Let them exhaust themselves but don’t let them devastate you. If you think you are doing the right thing, don’t let others irritate you. As long as you don’t harm others, it’s okay to show who you really are. Don’t be afraid of rejection. Just be yourself, don’t let others dictate your identity or even rule your life. It does not mean that because most people believe in or do a certain thing, it is justified to be good or true. Don’t let others manipulate how you should live your life. Life would be so sad if you live to please others. Dare to be you, and be free. Remember, you are unique just like everyone else.