an artist must paint,
a poet must write
if he is ultimately to be
at peace with himself.
~ Abraham Maslow ~
Do you sometimes feel like you are chained up in a cage? Or feel like you are inside prison walls?
If so, why do you think that is?
Is it possible that you are not being completely true to yourself? That you are living a lie?
In other words, could it be that you are not living who you "really" are? Not doing what makes you happy or what makes you at peace with yourself?
Listen...
Listen closely to the answer you get from within.
Do you hear a voice saying yes? Then you know something's not right.
Now, the question is...
When are you going to start paying closer attention to that voice? That part of you that's crying out for help? That part of you that's constantly begging to be set free?
And, more importantly, when are you going to start doing something about it?
When are you going to start doing what you love? What you enjoy? What gives you a deep sense of fulfillment? What makes you feel whole?
When are you going to put into practice William Shakespeare's good advice below?
This above all: to thine own self be true.
~~~~~~
The truth is, you can start now...right now...just by deciding.
You don't need anyone's permission...except your own.
You can start doing and living what makes your heart sing.
(I'm sure you can remember many times when you felt intense joy...when you felt complete. When things just felt right...very right. When deep down inside you, a part of you said something like: "Yes, this is what I love. This is what I am meant to do." Well, there's no reason why you can't have that feeling all the time.)
You don't need to remain chained up (or to continue living a lie). You don't have to allow society or others to dictate the way you should live, the type of work you should pursue, the types of activities you should give priority to, and so on.
No, you don't have to stay helpless inside that cage...inside those prison walls.
You have a choice.
You can decide, here and now, to break free. To do what you love...and to do it as often as you wish.
Who cares about the past? Leave it behind you. That's where it belongs.
You can decide to live life to the fullest...starting today.
Remember, it's "your" life. And you don't have to give power to anyone (or anything) over it.
(Although others may be well-intentioned when they try to discourage you from pursuing what you love--thinking they know what's best for you--it is "you"...and not them...who will end up either happy or miserable...in the short-term...and in the long-term. I mean, just imagine what it would be like, if one day, in the future, you looked back and couldn't help but say, "I wish I had lived my life differently...pursued what I truly love. I wish I didn't allow others to dictate the course of my life. 'Cause then I wouldn't be so miserable today.")
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by
the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.
~ Mark Twain ~
~~~~~~
"You decide" how you should live your life (of course, always making sure that your motives and actions are in line with what pleases God).
Life is short...fleeting...like a vapor. (George Mateljan knew this when he said: Life is too short to spend time doing anything except what you are passionate about.)
So live life to the fullest. Do whatever makes your heart sing...whatever makes you at peace with yourself. (And remember to contribute to others in positive ways whenever you can.)
Do it now...while there's still time.
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