@ Maya – To each their own, right? Im glad you said my post had “flow”. Must mean my writing is getting better!

@ Barbara – Glad you liked it! Yes, we CAN change if we want to.

@ Hayden – I think this sounds familiar to a LOT of people!

@ Bunny – I am glad you enjoyed it. As a very logical person I am learning to follow my gut more and more. My brain and my gut do battle it out though. The brain is used to being the top dog.

@ Kent – There really are a lot of funny paradoxical things in life and that is certainly one of them. Once again I like your word usage and it has gotten me thinking alot about the word control. Maybe Ill have a post on this in the coming weeks…

Cheers,
Jeremy

I like the TS Elliot quote that starts “to be yourself when all others are called in different directions…(paraphrasing) it is the hardest thing to do. But when we can collaborate from all different directions – wow that is powerful

meaning keeps changing for me built on my foundation from my genetic pool and life circumstances…I notice many over 60 year old women are changing their names as they find a new self? Just an observation

Nice post Thank you

Patricia’s last blog post..The Interstate is Closed

This felt like a post I would have written – I can totally relate. It took me a while to accept the fact that it is okay if my meaning in life is different from what society thinks my meaning of life should be ….

I find great joy in learning and growing – and that keeps me going …. life is brought out best when life brings out the best in me …. nothing is too profound or too shallow.

I really enjoyed the flow in the post!

Maya’s last blog post..Preparing to Believe in Yourself: The Science of Ditchiness

What a great, and thought provoking post to start the new year with.

Barbara Swafford’s last blog post..Stick – Stickier – Stuck, How To Overcome Writer’s Block

No. Kidding. I definitely understand where you were coming from on this.

Hayden Tompkins’s last blog post..How I bought $160 of Groceries for $62

This is a very deep subject which you have expressed very sincerely.

I can relate to the dress codes while growing up.All I wanted to do is be allowed to wear jeans and hang out with my friends.My parents had different ideas.They taught me structure and the importance of taking responsibly of your own actions in an encouraging way.Always do your best,was what they asked.

Later on,my fiance gave me similar advice with a business venture.He told me to listen to my tummy and my head would know what to do.So go with your gut feeling.

From this-
I have become aware that I would much rather be different then just one of the girls.

Clothes don’t make the person and the mind is an incredible gift to waste.

Then story of Viktor Frankl is very inspiring.To have survived that time,yes,he did have work assigned to him from a higher power.

This also reminds me of Wiadslaw Szpilman and Irena Sendlerowa.

I enjoyed this article very much,Jeremy.

Bunny got Blog’s last blog post..Socialization, Charisma, And The Career Girl

I completely agree with your response to my comment and your assumptions of my thoughts are correct.

I will also add that “restraining desires” can also paradoxically become an attempt to control. In other words, one should not exchange the desire to control external events with the desire to control internal events.

After all, emotion and the senses are the source of some the greatest pleasures in life.

Also, yes, my usage of the phrase, “be somebody,” infers the act of being something that we are not — of following social conventions for lack of self-acquaintance or self-direction.

To “be nobody” is to remove pretense and the masks that we wear for others…

@ Kent – Many people have put forth the idea that contentment lies in restraining ones desires. (It’s a strong Buddhist idea) Especially the desire for control. And the idea is mostly right. I believe in a path I would define as “realism”. Don’t get rid of all desire for control. But have a realistic idea of what you can and can not control.

Most of our control is not in external events but in how we react and respond to them. It’s always amazing to see how two people in the same event react differently. Or how people make lemonade out of lemons.

I think I agree with your last statement, but I wanna make sure I have you right. When you say “be somebody”, “be something”, be “nobody”, I think you are referring to external labels given to us by society. You are right. I don’t really care if society thinks I am a “nobody”, but I do care if certain individuals think I am a “nobody”. Everybody has got to be somebody to someone, right?

I think perhaps the better way to say this is that we should stop striving to be someone we are not. We must become more of who we are, not less. More of who we were created to be.

Cheers,
Jeremy

Jeremy Day’s last blog post..Confessions of an Information Junkie