Dare to be different. Step off the path that people have created for you and pursue your aspirations. Smother your fears and accept daunting challenges. But shh…. Don’t tell anyone about it.

“Why are you doing it? You don’t have to.” And the embers of your desire turn into cold ash. Once you pour your heart out to people, sharing with them your beautiful goals, they spit out the venom of discouraging words at you. In an instant the foundations of your confidence are shattered. Your mind is corrupted with doubt and fear. “Am I doing the right thing?” you ask yourself. With that they pull you back to their path and pin you to it. You remain clueless of what you could have achieved. You have no idea how much potential lurks in you.

I recently resolved to change my lifestyle by adopting regular exercise schedules and healthy eating habits. I was inspired by the fresh feeling I felt when I attempted jogging. I wanted to enhance my health and therefore live a more joyous life. But aspects such as health apparently held no significance to my family members and friends. They maintained that I had no reason whatsoever to exercise as my figure was ‘slender enough’. They constantly questioned my actions and blurted out disturbing compliments about my food (e.g. “Vegetarian now, huh?”). To worsen matters, they often muttered among themselves about me having some extreme personal problem that I was trying to solve. Once an aunt of mine actually mentioned that I needed prayer (With a straight face!). I refused to crumble under their words. I still exercise 3-4 times in a week and try to keep unhealthy foods off my plate.

Perhaps one can blame my family’s lack of support on sheer ignorance. But in other cases, I believe it is simply envy. Why else would someone want to prevent your good fortune? People simply fear you will turn into a better person than them so they raise obstacles in your path. Sometimes, they highlight every obstacle you encounter while pursuing your goal. They magnify little hindrances so that by fear, you are pushed to giving up. I, for instance, often have scenarios set for me where I have no choice but to indulge and junk food and forsake my exercising plans. I will have to admit, it is not always easy for one to defend their beliefs.

With the product of their tongues, people can force you to change cause and even make you jeopardize your future. It might sometimes be difficult to block out their words and prevent the seed of doubt from lodging itself inside your heart, but perhaps it would be simpler if you could concentrate on the fruits of your work. If you could focus only on the rewards you would get by following a specific path. Also, I would recommend doing proper research on how to overcome the hindrances you might face so that you can easily defend yourself when people raise fanciful questions.

“Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the toughest hearts.”- Patrick Rothfuss