My Professor in my career development course has been giving us quotes to reflect on and write reactions to while we read through "Roadtrip Nation". This quote kind of spoke out to me and kind of helped me realize that being a little selfish in life isn't always a bad thing. Sometime we need to listen to ourself and do what we want to do, regardless of what anyone else thinks.
“Do not go where the path may lead… go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
While you are growing up, everyone is going to set a “path” for you. A predetermined route that they think is best for you. “Oh you love to draw so you should be an architect!” “You know, since you like to argue to much and you're pretty clever, you should try getting into law school. Lawyers make great money.” “I bet you’d make a great pharmacist since you’ve got the brain for it.” Even though they might not come right out and tell you what you “need” to do, everyone is always making suggestions and indirectly pressuring you to make the “right” decision. But in the end, the path that they might want for you might not be the best path for you. You know yourself better than anyone else. Only you know what kind of things TRULY make you happy. So then why do we keep following these trails that everyone else lays down for us? Why do we keep trying to make everyone else happy, when we ourselves might be miserable? They don’t live your life, you do. And you only get one shot at it. So even if they want you to be a lawyer or an architect, you have to do what YOU want to do. Make yourself happy even if it’s considered a little offbeat. Because once you set out on your own idea and clear the way, all while doing it purely for yourself, you’ll create your own trail. And ultimately, that trail will lead you to inner happiness; a kind of happy that can only be found when you follow your own heart, your own instinct, and your own thoughts.
