Nobody's Gonna Tell You How to Live

How many of us wish that someone would tell us how to live? Isn't that why people get life coaches, therapists, and text their friends incessantly for approval and advice? We want someone to tell us how to live. When we are younger, we don't worry so much about our choices. We don't play by anyone else's rules or expectations. It's the freedom of youth. But, we age, and we become comfortable and rooted. No longer can we pack up all our things and live footloose and fancy. Responsibilities come, and we accept that adulting comes with narrowing our choices down.

Yet, in every life, we each find ourselves at a crossroads. As Eminem says:

Look, if you had, one shot, or one opportunity

To seize everything you ever wanted, one moment

Would you capture it?

Or just let it slip, yo?

The biggest responsibility we have in this life is to live to our fullest potential. We each are given a specific amount of time, specific gifts/skills, and specific people we are called to positively impact. When we live outside of our gifts, waste our God-given time and energy, and live in isolation from others, we are basically choosing to die before death actually comes. We can feel it in our bones. Waking up in the morning is impossible, and there is a heaviness to daily activity. Some call this depression, but I think it is deeper than that. I believe it is denying our existence and contribution to the world. We aren't living as "gift."

We become takers and victims.

It is our responsibility to honor the gifts, time, and people we have with us. It is our responsibility to not settle, but to choose what lights your heart and soul up. So often, we settle because our hearts have become anesthetized. We know when we are settling. We are hardened to the disappointments of the past, so we stop dreaming. We stop feeling. We stop desiring.

I truly believe most people are too afraid to desire and wait on the best that God can offer because they have numbed their deepest dreams. I am always so excited to meet someone who says "I married my dream guy" or "I LOVE what I do/my job!" It's exciting to hear it because it's rare.

It's never too late to start dreaming. It's never too late to start over and to stop settling. And yes, you will get resistance and criticism from others if you decide to color outside the lines. Those who critique your choices are often the ones who were most afraid to risk in their own lives and step out of their comfort zones.

We all have to excavate our own hearts and discover what makes us come alive. And, we must choose every day to take baby steps towards achieving that reality. So, let's stop seeking approval from others, and decide to write the story of our own lives.

Nobody is gonna tell you how to live.