On July 24 I will be turning 20 years old, and coincidentally, I will have an article due right before my birthday. I’ve been wrapping my brain around trying to figure out how I can incorporate this milestone into my article without writing about how birthdays are so great.
“20 things I learned before turning 20” crossed my mind--why not? It’s a simple enough concept and I’m sure I’ve at the very least have learned 20 valuable things in all these laps around the sun. As I started to make my list, I could only think about the basic things that I’m sure everybody knows, but I wanted it to be more than “know your friends” and “taking risks." The one idea that would never leave my head was living your life for you. This is that idea.
In my near 20 years, I’ve gone through everything the typical person does and I’m pretty sure we’ve all learned the same basic lessons, from self-discovery to picking people that you bring into your life more wisely. But the most important thing I’ve learned is living my life for myself. The reason I think it’s the most important thing is because I’ve gone through phases where I was trying so hard to be someone I’m not or ended up being a version of myself that I hated. All of that lead to self-esteem problems and eating disorders and all-around not being physically or emotionally healthy.
Living your life for you is simply that. Living the life that you want and you need for the selfish reason of being happy. Happiness is a selfish thing because we’re always taught to make sure others are okay and that you’re not a good person if you’re constantly putting yourself ahead of others, even though sometimes, that’s what you have to do. There is nothing wrong with making sure you’re happy and okay.
The main point of living your life for you is being happy and not doing something because someone else tells you or wants you to. In order to live your life for you, you must first decide who or what you want to be. Decide to work on your personal growth or getting rid of negativity or whatever area of your life you think needs work to make sure you’re living your life for you.
Once you’ve decided what you’re going to do, simply do it. I hate to be cliché, but in order to live your life for you, it’s a must to not care what other people think. Their opinions and comments won’t make you a better or happier person at the end of the day. The person they tell you that you should be because that’s how everyone else is might not be the person you’re meant to be.
This might not be the most in-depth article on how to live your life for you, but that’s the exact point. I can’t tell you how to live your life. You can be a close childhood friend reading this or a total stranger, but either way, I don’t know everything about you and how you want to be.
This was meant to be a quick personal insight on my opinions on how to live your life for yourself and the importance of it. It’s important to remember who you are and the parts of yourself that you like. Finding at least one thing about yourself will lead you down the path to happiness and allow you to be yourself. Changing yourself because others say you should won’t let you live the happy, blissful life you were meant to have.
Living your life for yourself is the most selfish thing you can do but it’s also the healthiest thing you can do. You deserve all of the happiness and love but you won’t get it being something you’re not. Live your life for you and no one else, they don’t have to live with the decisions you make.
