I really like reading motivational and inspiring quotes, they make me thoughtful about certain topics. Sometimes even change my mind about various things. My quote of the month is:
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
by Ralph Waldo Emerson
I think it’s a really good one, which everyone should follow; especially nowadays where the main aim is to follow the same path. Even the ones who want to go their own way feel the peer pressure and turn.
Sometimes living the life we want to live means making choices that go against the expectations of our families, friends and community – facing loneliness and doubts as results. We want a way through life that won’t attract too much attention. But taking the road less travelled still has many advantages. If you need any encouragement to start your own thing then I got five good reasons for you.
Reason Nr. 1: Gaining braveness
Failures are the best lessons in life we can get. The more mistakes we make, the more we learn from them - there is no reason to fear of failure. Sometimes we need bad things to happen to inspire us to change and grow. Nothing in life is riskless but some paths have clearer roadmaps than others. Choosing a new path tends to involve a lot of question marks we need to find the answer to ourselves. Failure is not a bad things, it just shows us that there might be a better way of doing. Sometimes we get off track too but as long as we find back it doesn’t matter at all, in fact that’s all part of the learning process. We’re getting even more brave and successful in what we’re doing.
Reason Nr. 2: Gaining thicker skin
Facing judgement for the choices we make can be very painful. As time goes by we learn to not take other people’s opinions and judgements personally. More often than not, those judgements result from jealousy or insecurities. Painful comments about our way of life can help us getting even stronger and increase our self-esteem, which often suffers from going against expectations.
Reason Nr. 3: Gaining unexpected company
Changing path can be scary, because it means we possibly lose contact to “friends”. As we change interests, we can’t share with those called friends, we drift apart. That can lead to loneliness and that’s most likely the point where we tend to turn and go back to the path others want to see us on. Even when we’re not happy that way - but we don’t care about that in moment of fear. Sometimes the will isn’t strong enough to really make us question the path we're on. We should just have the courage and do it though, since being on another path without our “friends” can open up new connections with others – and actually becoming friends. That’s the way it should be anyway; that we can share our true passion.
Reason Nr. 4: Gaining freedom and happiness
When we’re living life that doesn’t seem to be right for us, we get grumpy and isolate ourselves from others. We might even lose joy of life and when that happens it’s time to think about getting freedom and start the life we want to live. But that’s easier said than done. Achieving freedom can take a lot of time and just can be done step by step. The best way to do that, for me, is travelling. That takes me in a thoughtful mood. Whilst travelling I can think about a bunch of things, because it gets me off of my path for long enough that I can stop, look around and think about where I’m heading. I feel like waking up one day and start asking myself questions:
Why are you friends with the people you are friends with?
Why is your life happening like it is happening?
Where am I in life and where do I aim to be?
Too many of the answers to these questions are “because I have been there for a while”.
We don’t want to be pushed down the path others had chosen for us; we want to look outside the box. We’re not until then free when we have found our own, for us individually created path, which leads us into happiness and inner peace.
Reason Nr. 5: Gaining inspiration to share
If we embrace alternative paths we don’t just help ourselves, we’re moreover helping others to grow and have as well courage to follow their dreams. We show them, that choosing other paths or being different is nothing to hide for. We can openly live as we want to. Nobody has the right to judge our lifestyle – We should always remind ourselves about that! Therefore we should be supportive to those who need to be pushed in the right direction or just need help to get on the right track. There’s no shame in following a well-travelled path, but there are plenty of other roads to explore, and plenty of good reasons to embark on them. If we don’t follow a, for the umpteenth time, chosen path we can leave OUR footprints. Maybe for others but even if they are just for ourselves it’s a great achievement.
To top it off... I believe in destiny, I think things are happening for a specific reason.
Who else believes in destiny and what are your thoughts about this topic? I’d love to know.
Ella x