thursday night thoughts (this ain't no dress rehearsal)

authenticity is worth striving for but it's not easy to be honest and real.  no, it's much easier to bow to the dictates of society and what others expect and think of us of us than it is to live according to what we desire and what truly speaks to our soul.  in the end if we do not seek our own path we will have failed to satisfy anyone, especially our self.  
our individual journey through life is ours to decide and to travel and therein lay the gift.  

if we do not choose for ourself, but instead allow others to choose for us, we deny ourselves the the full and unique experience of life.  we get one shot and a limited amount of time.  unfortunately we often wait until this, that or something else happens or changes or we change or someone makes a choice for us. we wait, thinking the time will come when things magically get better or it gets easier to walk away from the life, the marriage, the job, or whatever it is that we feel obligated to or afraid to leave.  then before you know it time has run out and we accept our unfortunate fate, one we actually chose because we failed to choose otherwise. "to not choose is to choose."

no, this is not a dress rehearsal.  this is your life.