Ducks in a Row: Living Your Own Life
by Miki Saxon
Do you find today’s world a bit strange?
I do. Not because of the technology or breakthroughs, but because so many people are trying so hard to live someone else’s life or spending incredible amounts of energy trying to force others to live their way.
I’m not saying they shouldn’t; it’s their choice and doesn’t require my approval or opinion — unless they are trying to cram something down my throat that chokes me.
I neither need nor want the safe, curated world described yesterday.
I’ve screwed up many times in the course of my life; three had disastrous, long-range consequences, yet without them I wouldn’t be me — and I like me.
I realize that there are probably many versions of me that I would like; each a result of choosing a different fork in my path.
What I wouldn’t like would be to live with the desire to be someone else.
We look at public personas with no knowledge or understanding of what went into creating each one or even if they are real.
The dichotomy between the inauthenticity of craving or controlling someone else’s life and the talk of living an authentic life is often hard to swallow.
Geno Auriemma, Coach of the Connecticut Women’s Basketball Team summed it up very well in an interview.
“I’ve always been fascinated by people who care so much about what other people are and what they do in their personal lives,” he told a news conference. “Like, how small-minded do you have to be to care that much about what other people are doing? Life is hard enough as it is, trying to live your own life.”
No matter how wealthy there is someone with more money; no matter how beautiful or handsome there is someone who is better looking; no matter how brilliant there is someone who is smarter or just better uses what they have.
So, whether at work or personally, be proud to be you. No matter who you are or what you do you have a spark that no one else has.
Image credit: Frank Vassen
