Do you live a careful life? I don't mean the look-both-ways-before-you-cross-the-street careful. I mean the live-so-carefully-you're-not-really-living-at-all careful.

Do you worry about what others will say about that poem you wrote or the person you stuck up for?

Do you fear your crush will mock you for sharing how you feel?

Do you contemplate how others think of you?

Do you constantly try avoid making mistakes?

Do you hide who you are or what you're passionate about because of the fear of rejection?

If any of these are true, then I'll answer for you. Yes, you are living a careful life.

Careful: adj. making sure of avoiding potential danger, mishap, or harm; cautious.

Living a careful life is dangerous because you're actually hurting yourself by trying to avoid pain. We're all guilty of it at some point, and we see it with phrases like "I don't want him to think I'm weird!" or "What if she gets mad at me?"

We march around with thick armor to protect our egos and our hearts instead of speaking our minds honestly and acting like adults. We live in a world of what-ifs, rules and lies. We choose regret, censorship and dishonesty all because we're afraid of experiencing rejection.

Weird, dumb, awkward, stupid...

The list of words we think people will speak about us if we follow our heart, share our passion or speak honestly is never ending. I'm confused about when following your heart became negative behavior.

We constantly sacrifice our own happiness and peace of mind for the sake of others. We think if we're silent and just go with the norm that we'll be happier. How is that working out for any of us?

It's not working at all. We miss out on potential friendships or relationships and give up what we love in order to conform. We crave uniqueness; however, it's easier to just do what everyone else is doing. The funny thing is that we all complain about our culture, but nobody wants to change it.

Instead, we stay silent and try to avoid conflict and judgement. We're so afraid our true selves will spawn negative opinions.

And you know what? It might happen that way. People may think of you differently or dislike who you truly are, but there's also a good chance they won't. There's a chance they may agree with you, feel the same way, or share in that passion. The potential for acceptance outweighs the risk of rejection.

It's time we all realize that and start living our lives for ourselves instead of others. I'm so sick of the games we all play to avoid disappointment, and I'm angry at whoever taught us we need to live careful lives in order to find happiness and acceptance.

Quit over-thinking and hiding. If you're interested in somebody, tell him or her instead of always wondering what may have been. If you're mad at a friend, work it out instead of passive aggressively avoiding each other for weeks. If you're passionate about a certain subject or activity, embrace it. Live your life and ignore people's demands and society's expectations.

I can't promise that you'll be successful. In fact, you will get rejected and experience disappointment. I can promise that the times you are successful will be so worth the risks you take.

“Becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it.”-Veronica Roth

Be free from the fear of rejection. Be free from a life of carefulness. This is your life. It's not you friend's life. It's not your family members' life. It's not society's life. Caring for others and wishing well for them is great, but your happiness still needs to be a priority too.

I recently read Donald Miller's "Scary Close," and he addresses the "the danger of being careful." I've tried to avoid being careful, and sometimes it worked in my favor but other times I fell flat on face. Failure and rejection are never fun and always scary. I'd be lying if I said that what I'm preaching is easy. It's not, but this serves as a friendly reminder to live loudly, not carefully.

Sounds freeing right? Well it is, but I've added more to his words:

I'm willing to risk rejection for the chance at something beautiful.

I'm willing to fearlessly share my passion with others.

I'm willing to speak my mind honestly even if I'm wrong.

I'm willing to make mistakes and own up to them.

I'm willing to express the emotions or insecurities I feel.

I'm willing to dream big and live with hope rushing through my veins.

I'm willing to try and fail, and then try again.

I'm willing to admit I am far from perfect.

I'm willing to live my life the way I want.

I'm willing to ditch the careful lifestyle.

I am perfectly willing to be perfectly human.

You should be too.