Most of the misery I've suffered in life has come from trying to fit someone else's ideal of what I "should" be. In many ways I am much like everyone else, but in many ways I am different. I have come to love my differences, and it is almost unbelievable how differently people act toward me, and react to me, since I have embraced those differences. I have never been able to go along to get along. I have to be true to myself to be happy. I consider myself a "recluse." (There was a time I would have used the word "outcast" instead!) When I stopped trying to be something in particular and decided to just "be" my life became what I've always wanted. When I embraced my differences they became strengths--strengths that still set me apart from others, but allow me to achieve things they often can't, or don't. I am a leader in a national non-profit progressive organization, and I co-founded a local social organization. People seek me out to simply appear at their social and political functions. I'm not even sure what others see in me. What I know I have is pride and self-confidence derived from devoting myself to the promotion of social and economic equality. There are still people who don't like me, and don't agree with me, and that is okay. As long as I am informed, as long as I am focused on doing what I truly believe is "right," I feel content. It is far more important to my own happiness to meet the demands I make of myself, than to meet the approval of others.
So stop being concerned about what others want. Find your own list of requirements for you, and do your best to fulfill them. That, I believe, is the key to a happy life!
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
No comments:
Post a Comment