Princeton University defines individuality as “a belief in the importance of the individual and the virtue of self-reliance and personal independence”. Basically this is a term used to describe those who hold themselves accountable for what they want in life. They go after what they want, and pursue their goals and priorities with little irrelevant intervention. It can also be followed that their decisions in life are directly made on the probability of personal gain. In other words, they make decisions based on what they can get out of them. It is upon this realization that our lives become much clearer.
Our lives are, and have been, based on the decisions we do, and have made. Everything in your life is a direct result of your decisions. This decision, as Peter McWilliams in Do It! Let’s Get Off Our Butts! States is “not a single, monumental choice, rather, they are the decisions made daily, hourly and minute by minute”.
This may be a big pill to swallow. If you think about it, I’m saying that everything in your life, even if seemingly unrelated to your interests, is there because YOU made the decision to let it be. (OUCH) As hard as it may seem to believe, it’s true. We make decisions based off what we want out of them, it is this want we must look at further to understand why we live the lives we do.
If you want to change your life, what you do for a living, whom you’re surrounded by, what you may have or not have, then you first must change within yourself. You need to stop looking to others for answers and begin to look at yourself—the one who has been responsible all along.
An obligated life, is a life you can’t enjoy, it’s a life created by false pretences’, and frequently accompanied by stress and depression. It’s a life that belongs to someone else. It’s a life lived by someone who makes decisions based on what others want or for the “greater good” and sacrifices their own welfare.
Some people feel they need to sacrifice some of their time or resources for others as a way to feel better about themselves, but if this is the case the problem is more internal then you may know. Instead of making decisions and wandering through your life based on what others want, or what organizations or belief systems want from you, it’s time we began to examine ourselves—what we want. Don’t worry, this is not selfish, it’s merely living the life you’re given, and making the most of it.
Excerpts by Devon Ford
Submitted by Donald Sammons
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