Opinions. Everybody has one. And a lot of them suck. Eloquent, I know.
I am a very private person. I do not love for people outside of my inner circle to have access to my personal life. I want the ones I love to know all about it. I want everyone else to stay out of it. It’s a pipe dream, I know, but I truly believe that access to your private life should be a privilege in a world of over sharing.
I’m learning to open up to others. To share my happiness, my failures, my lessons and my faults. I believe that sometimes our biggest testimony is in our own stories. When we are brave enough to be open and honest, we make others feel more normal, less alone and can stimulate healing in others.
If you take nothing that I have written to heart over the last month and a half, please hear this. Write it down. Stick it on your mirror. Whatever you have to do. Just please let it penetrate your skull. LIVE YOUR LIFE.
People are always going to have an opinion about what you do. Most of those people don’t matter. Do not take criticism from people that you would not take advice from. Stop giving the haters so much power. Most of the people who have an opinion about your life truly know nothing about it. There are only a few people in my life who really get to weigh in for me. And you know what, even after they weigh in, I still do what I feel in my heart to be right.
I am a reformed people pleaser. I used to live my life to make other people happy. I wanted people to love me and be proud of me. I wanted their approval. So I lived a very safe, sheltered, non controversial life. Now, I live the life I feel most drawn to and you know what? The ones that matter still love me. They are still proud. I’ve lost a lot of the excess baggage I used to carry around too. I feel a lot lighter these days.
Here’s what I know friends. You cannot please everyone. Period. Someone is always going to be upset. Someone is always going to think you’re dumb. Let them think what they want. Don’t intentionally hurt people. Be wise and thoughtful in your choices. And then go live your life. It’s yours. Don’t waste it trying to be what someone else wants you to be. Maybe they ought to focus more on their own lives and they wouldn’t have such a strong opinion about yours. Do you. Proudly.
