"The reward for conformity was that everyone liked you except yourself." - Rita Mae Brown

How often do we hear the words – free your spirit, listen to your heart, follow your “inner voice”? How often do we actually do all of that and how often do we take umbrage in not listening to the voices in our head? Why do we seek shelter in conforming? Why do we seek acceptance for our actions and our thoughts in the eyes of those around – not just eyes that matter, even those in whose line of sight we just accidentally happened to be!

In the race of conformity, we stack up endless piles of “would-have-beens”. In the shadow of the implicit acceptance and positive response from those around us we silently hide our rebellion. Its safer isn’t it to –be conventional, be traditional, do the accepted thing, obey the rules, play the game, kowtow, just measure up! Why rebel and upset the apple cart?

But the more discerning are left with a nag at the back of their mind, which reminds them that if everyone else in the world was taken away, they would do things differently. So do you become a rebel without a cause, and just be disruptive about every act, for the sake of being disruptive? No, atleast that’s not what this post intends to leave the reader with.

Sometimes we need to remember that we have this responsibility to ourselves to be completely convinced about what we do. Anything that we do that does not include pleasing us, more often remains undone. Its ok to believe sometimes in things which most others don’t believe in. Its important to be true to ourselves and acknowledge that what is going to please me, is not going to please others and still do it. Don’t play martyr on the desires within…, your only sacrificing some potent would-have beens.. We could be wrong, perhaps even tragically wrong – but we have the satisfaction of knowing that we tried…

Cheers,

T