Cultural expectations is something you're to deal with if you really want to live your best authentic life.
There're certain things society expects you to achieve at a particular age-they've their yardstick for measuring success. And if you don't meet up to this yardstick, they try to put a label on you and try to shame you.
In Nigeria, for example, married couples who're having difficulty getting pregnant and having their own kids are labeled a failure by many and matured adult who're yet to get married are tagged un-serious, even a failure.
It's why many respect married women more than single women. Because of shame, many have gotten themselves involved in unscrupulous practices just to have a child of their own. (This is a subject of discussion for another day.)
Shame is very powerful. It's a universal emotion that affects our feelings, thoughts and behaviours. We all experience this thing called "shame." But we can make a choice not to allow it to stop us from living our best authentic life.
Many have allowed shame to stop them from embracing their inner wiring, challenging the status quo or do their best work.
It has turned many into carbon copies and made many to choose a life below their true potential.
When you put so much of your time and energy into making sure that you meet everyone's expectations and into caring about what other people think of you, you'll never live your best authentic life or embrace your inner wiring.
Of course, people will try to put you down when you choose a different path from the norm; they will try to stop you from living your best authentic life or embrace you inner wiring.
But you must get to that point in your life when what other people think of you does not count much.
Let me close with what Brene Brown said in the introductory path of her book, I Thought I Was The Only One: Women Reclaiming their Power And Courage in a Culture of Shame:
"Shame is often what drives us to hate our bodies, fear rejection, stop taking risks, hide the experiences and parts of our lives that we fear others might judge. Shame forces us to put so much value on what other people think that we lose ourselves in the process of trying to meet everyone else's expectations."
This is my prayer for you TODAY: May God give you the strength to stand your ground so that you can live your best authentic life in a culture of shame, in a society that puts so much importance on being perfect and fitting in.
@jjdowie
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