In modern-day society, doing what you love is nowhere near as easy as it sounds. It may seem like doing what you love is merely a matter of, well, just doing it. The frequent use of social media in the everyday lives of adults and teenagers makes everyone who shares their life and what they do vulnerable to the judgment of others. It has almost come to a point where doing what you love is only possible if you can gather up just enough confidence and tough skin or if you do what you love in silence. No one should feel the need to hide from others when it comes to doing what makes them happy.

Everyone has a passion for something, and pursuing it can be difficult if you have to put yourself out there for others to look at, think about, and speak about. It could be singing, drawing, dancing, playing a sport, etc., but there is almost always fear associated with pursuing passions. Fear of judgment, fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of _____. All of these fears are rational, but the more you think about it, they are all fears that are based on the opinions and thoughts of others.

Why do we place the decision to pursue what we love in the hands of others?

As humans, we feel the need to fit in and mesh with the crowd surrounding us. We feel the need to act, think, and speak a certain way so that we will feel more "accepted" and "normal." Sure, this is a natural way to feel, but we can't let how we follow our passions be determined by the idea of fitting in or being accepted by the people around us.

Let people do what they love. If someone is happy with what they are doing, don't be the one to steal their happiness through judgment, harsh words, or exclusion. We are all unique and have something different to bring to the table. Instead, encourage them to keep going, and give them a reason to feel more confident in pursuing their passion, rather than making them scared to chase their dream.

It costs nothing to be a nice and encouraging person, but it costs someone's feelings to be judgmental.

Abandon the dependence on the opinions of others to do what you love, and adopt being confident in yourself and uplifting others so that they can be confident, too.