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I think people care too much about what others think. I suppose it is not really a bad thing. However, when it begins to take hold of your life and master its course, that’s when things need to change surely?

I was thinking to myself the other day. I was thinking that I don’t want to be that person who towards their twilight years regrets and laments not doing so many things in life for fear of the judgement and opinion of others. To me this is sort of very much like cheating yourself out of living. That is too sad.

It may seem that words come easy to me in my saying all this but they don’t. Not really. I had to learn the hard way. I spent my teenage years trying so hard to please certain people around me. Yet at the same time, I was reckless and innately rebellious/free spirited. A destructive mix that meant I spent too long messing up and then trying desperately to atone for my “errors” and redeem myself. My naivety was boundless and the circle I allowed myself to be captured within so vicious that I very nearly broke myself (quite literally). Then, just as things went too far, I accepted that I could never be happy living that way. And so having lost my childhood, I slowly, painfully, bravely, begun to grow a life that I dreamed of having.

I think allowing yourself to be yourself, truly yourself without seeking the approval of others is one of the best gifts you can give yourself. Because you see, those that really love and care about you will always do just that and they are the best people for advice along the way. This is one of the biggest things that I have learned from my life.

“The greatest cage that we build for ourselves is created from our fear of what others think about us.”