Whose Life Are You Living?

Today’s society places us in many different rolls. We are the friend, the spouse, the parent or child, the employer or team member. We change our behaviors and personas to fit our different and evolving rolls and responsibilities. Like changing our clothes to fit the weather or activity, we lock our true selves into patterns of behavior and speech that “fit in” to the situation of the moment.

Like politicians eating tacos in New Mexico and bagels in New York, we are constantly seeking the approval of our employer, associates and families by shifting out of ourselves to be what someone else thinks we should be …or what we THINK they want us to be. In the pursuit of acceptance, success, a raise or a few moments of happiness we lose ourselves, our peace and, ultimately, any lasting happiness. We have become so adept at wearing and changing masks that we are sometimes totally unrecognizable even to ourselves.

Putting food on the table and a roof over our head is the primary motivation for the work that we do. We do whatever it takes to provide for our families and ourselves. We have been taught to work hard, sacrifice and get on with what we ‘should’ do. We are taught that our dreams, our hearts desires and our pursuit of personal peace and happiness are selfish, and that we must accept responsibility for and the perpetuation of other peoples ideas of our success. We live the lives we are told to live and have convinced ourselves that it is what we want.

We fill our lives with things...bigger cars, bigger houses, name brand clothes, the “right” cup of coffee and convince ourselves that these are the things we want. We find ourselves suffering from depression, obesity and major health issues. By denying ourselves, we close ourselves off from the health, peace and joy that we were born to live.

We must all do the things that need to be done, but we can choose to do them in a different way. By finding what makes our heart sing, accepting ourselves and giving ourselves permission to strike a balance between what has to be done and what we enjoy doing, we can begin to find ourselves again. We can create a new definition of the meaning of taking responsibility. We can be responsible for our life, our family, our community and our planet by allowing ourselves to follow our dreams, dance to the music of our hearts, and by sharing the still, small voice within with the world.