The Power of You
The closer I get to graduating college, the more I realize how much power and control I have in dictating my future life. It's easy to get lost in the crowd, deluding yourself into thinking you want what society expects of you. Society likes to label us, point fingers, assume our identity, and control our every waking moment. We impatiently check our phones, waiting for notifications to come in, scroll through our social media feed for our next idea, but for what? To continue living a life that we know isn't tailored to our needs, wants, and desires.
Over the years, I've learned what living a facade feels like. Acting in opposition to what your heart tells you because it's the "logical" choice or ignoring your intuition out of self-protection. You have a choice from the moment you wake up until the moment you close your eyes. You can choose who you want to be every single day, it is one of life's greatest blessings. Do you want to be the person who lights up any room they walk into? Then you must wake up, believe you are that person, and watch yourself become that person.
I used to be the type of person who cared about what others thought of me. I would try to please people by acting against my values and beliefs. I would try to justify my actions to others to get them to understand my decision-making. I wasted so much time trying to fulfill society's expectations, not even realizing those expectations weren't mine to fulfill.
My intuition gave me all the right signs, but I wasn't ready to see them yet. It wasn't until the beginning of this summer that I truly understood my power. With that realization comes tremendous responsibility. It is your responsibility to create the life you want to live. Ask yourself what it is that you truly want. What do you value? What brings you joy? When you envision the future, who do you want to be?
It's never too late to turn your life around and become your dream person. Look back at all the different elements of your life up to this point and see which ones, to what extent, have made you who you are today. As Nietzsche put it, see "how they form a stepladder upon which you have climbed up to yourself as you are now."
It's convenient for us to believe in what we believe in. So often, we want to take the easy way out, climbing a stepladder that we don't even realize is going nowhere. Don't waste time climbing one that isn't made for you. If one day you find yourself doing so, don't be afraid to step off it. You are only lost if you allow yourself to be. It takes self-love, a significant amount of self-love, beyond what anyone could understand, to reclaim your power. You deserve better, and if that stepladder isn't leading you to somewhere better, step off and find that better. But first, find that better within yourself.
