Some people are so miserable, that if you dare to shine your inner light, which radiates out as enthusiasm and joy, they do everything they can to bring you down to their level with either overt or covert behaviors and language.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.”
Steve Jobs
For example, you tell your friend about a great idea you have, and your friend says outright, “Really? You want to start a new project now? You’ve got this, this, and this to do, where on earth will you even find the time, money, blah, blah, blah…” And you start to lose your enthusiasm as all the minutiae seems to grow into a mountain of impossibilities or difficulties.
Or you tell another person about your great idea, and they say in an offhand manner, “Oh; cool,” and then start talking about something else. This kind of leaves you wondering, “Is this a bad idea? What am I thinking?”
“Live for each second without hesitation.”
Elton John
When you find something that lights you up and fills you with inspiration and excitement, then you know you have found something that is right for you. We all want to know what our life purpose is, what we are here to do, and the thing is – it’s to live life in a way that makes us happy and brings joy to those around us. If we shut down our enthusiasm and ‘fall in line’ so as not to make other people feel inferior or jealous, then we are doing ourselves and everyone else a disservice. If we dim our glow, then we’re just contributing to the darkness.
“Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use – do the work you want to see done.”
Austin Kleon
If you ever feel like you need to be ‘less than’ so that you fit in, or that you can’t go after a dream because someone makes a snide comment (whose opinion you care about), then you need to remember that you have the power to make the changes in your life so that you surround yourself with people who genuinely care about you and want you to succeed. Those people who are afraid of being left behind don’t want you to grow and get even better, so they want you to settle for where you are and try to keep you down. Don’t let them.
“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.”
Gail Sheehy
The Weekly Post 