I read this the other day and stopped. I paused for a second in my browsing, in my reading and in my thoughts. I read the quote to myself once more. "You had a purpose before anyone had an opinion."
For as long as I could remember all I ever wanted to do was write. It did not matter what I wrote, pen/pencil to paper was the most calming feeling that I could ever experience. As a child I was loud and determined- not to say that any of those qualities have gone away- yet I often felt like I could never fully say out of my mouth the way words had painted pictures in my mind. Letters would paint themselves into happily ever afters or anxiety release forms. And I, like any child wrapped in a world of art would bring letters on pages to life via stories that were conjured up from real life situations.
However, somewhere down the line I was encouraged to be good at tasks that were common place, my bills began to pile up and as an adult I was constantly reminded by professors and educators alike that "real life" would set in. I never imagined that the picture I saw for myself in my mind was for one second fleeting. It never felt imaginary to me. Yet somehow, the barrage of opinions of others crouched out the stories that had long sense been lively to me and "real life" became what was now unfamiliar. I began to live someone else's opinion. Awakening to congratulary above standard performance reviews and climbs ladders that led to heights that I had no intentions on resting at once I arrived at the top. I had someone allowed the opinions of others to drown out my voice, which essentially was my purpose and my almost 50 hour work weeks were spent allowing someone elses dream to come to flurition.
Then I became exhausted. Exhausted and frustrated and so I sat still. I sat still and remembered what it was that I had always loved in my life. What makes me smile the most, laugh the loudest, and wholly release any form of emotion that I do not find to be beneficial. I put my pen to paper- and remembered that the opinions of others is just that, an opinion. And my purpose is to never ever be uncomfortable in my own life.