So I recently came across this inspiring line—“Don’t waste your life trying to impress other people. Do what you love, love what you do.” My question is…does that really work? Because honestly, I don’t stand a chance! No, really!
More importantly, can one really be happy just doing what pleases oneself? I, for one, cannot. If I did what I felt like, wouldn’t that affect the people close to me? My family, my friends?
There are multiple things I don’t want to do, sometimes on a daily basis, sometimes just because I don’t want to do it at that particular moment. Like cook or clean, run errands for the house, call that friend even though she never calls/returns my messages, or even the “extra” mommy things that my daughter can do without (but I’m forced to cuz someone feels I should). But I do all that… and more.
And then there are things I WANT to do. Like pick up a full time job that pays me a bomb, or go for an all-girls holiday or perhaps watch a movie with friends. Or just laze around all day, and do nothing at all! But if I did that, would the people closely associated with me be okay with it? I bet they will not! Because that’s not how life works. You cannot do what you want to do, all the time. You cannot not “impress” people who matter to you. Impress, as in keep them happy. You got to do it because it makes them happy. So yes, I will give up that movie with friends and go for a movie with my mom instead; yes, I won’t take that all-girls holiday cuz my daughter is still too young to spend time away from me; and no, I won’t laze around all day doing nothing cuz I have a home to look after.
But when I make these little sacrifices, it somewhere does make me happy. Because it makes the people I love happy. So am I wasting my time? Definitely not! I may not exactly ‘love’ what I am doing, but it sure makes it easier for me to sleep in peace, every single night.
I agree wholeheartedly with your views Nina.How many of us can really do what one wants ,throwing all our responsibilites and priorities to the wind? Personally I feel the greatest happiness comes when you can devote your spare time for your loved ones ,be it your hubby ,your daughter ,your mom or anyone else!So the moral of the story is do what really makes you fully satisfied at the cost of nothing!
ReplyDeleteJaya aunty.
Love your blog, Nins :*
ReplyDelete....the eternal struggle every woman(inner girl) goes thru....but like you said...somewhere along the journey, we find "yup! i'm doing this for myself too!"..Nina, you have often been that pressure valve for me... taking me out from all the "must do's" in life....so that I enjoy the "must do's". God Bless..and keep these blogs coming!
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