It took me twenty-something years to realize that I had given more power to people to have a say in my life than I gave myself and it took me twenty-something years to realize that it was my choice. I was the one allowing them to invade my space and my head. I was the one allowing them to distort my thoughts with their noise.

It takes an immense dose of strength and self-control to disregard other people’s opinions or advice, especially if they’re older, more experienced, more successful or if they’re people you love and you know that they want what’s best for you but what I discovered is that every time I decided to go against the flow of what they were telling me, I ended up with something so much better for me; something that made me happier, something that made me more content with who I am and what I do.

I just firmly believe that no one knows what moves you more than you do, no one knows what you really need more than you do and no one knows your potential more than you do and if you keep giving your power to people; they will eventually inhibit you. That’s all I ever felt when I gave them more power; inhibited. 

I felt afraid of everything, I was slowly stepping away from who I really was and into what they wanted me to be or what they expected me to be. I felt like I didn’t want to lose them or disappoint them so I did exactly what they thought I would do and I always went a little bit overboard to make sure I still get their ‘blessing.’ Until I realized that nothing feels worse than losing yourself, nothing feels worse than pretending to be someone you’re not because you don’t want people to walk away from you, nothing feels worse than feeling stuck in a life you didn’t choose for yourself.

But the good news is, nothing feels better than knowing that you have a choice to change it all, you’re always a single choice away from a new beginning, from a new life, from a new you. The you that has been stifled by the words of others or your culture, or your family or your peers. The you that has been trying to come out of its suffocating shell and breathe. Nothing feels better than knowing you created an amazing life for yourself and it was your choice.

Every day you have a choice to ignore one more naysayer, to take one more big risk, one more leap of faith. Every day you have a choice to choose yourself even if you disappoint a few people along the way. Every day you have a choice to grow out of everything they taught you to be and into everything you truly aspire to be because that’s how you evolve and that’s how you grow; you slowly take your power back and begin having more control over your life because having the courage to stand up and say this who I want to be and I will become it even if I fail is guaranteed to give you life’s richest and best rewards, it will give you a passionate life and it will give you meaning.

The biggest mistakes in life come from giving your power to someone else and the biggest blessings come from taking back that power and giving it all to yourself because some people are simply not born to settle for the passenger seat, they’re born to drive.