I used to think it was important to always wears the same earrings, or the same shoes. I used to want to be ‘that woman’ who defined herself based on a title, a singular hobby, or even a particular personality trait. But lately, as I found myself growing and changing in my interests and my life, I felt an inner battle going on involving words like ‘should be‘ and a sense of letting myself down as I diverged away from things I thought should define me.
I started to wonder: What is so great about that much consistency? Why should I have to be pigeonholed into a limited definition of myself?
The simple definition of ‘pigeonholed‘ is a “specific, often oversimplified category”. That is not the most complementary definition of self that I have ever come across!
Instead, a far more interesting and attainable idea, to me, is “Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still. ” – Chinese Proverb.
Why should I force myself into a single space? Why do I need to create a singular, and by definition somewhat limited definition, of who I am? Why can’t my tastes, interests, and paths in life grow and change, just as I myself am?
When we are little kids, our parents teach us that we can be or do anything that we put our minds to, when we grow up. This principle should not stop being true just because we get ‘growed-up’. As a matter of fact, it should become more and more true as we develop into our real self. And as our ‘selves’ grow, so does our ability to try different interests; to fit into different roles; to excel in different situations.
So don’t be afraid to taste what life has to offer and to experience all the things that you want to do, should do, never dreamed of doing, and especially, are afraid of doing because you’ve never done them before.
Refuse to be pigeonholed.
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