Never apologize for doing what's right for you

A few years ago I had a conversation with a lovely woman. She was so very talented, but she didn't believe she was. For many years she had been told that she was nothing special. And whenever she would do something different than what she normally did, her family never took her seriously. It was not really done maliciously. You know how your family and friends can tease you when you decide you want to break out of the norm and do something new. They are used to you being one way and have a difficult time seeing you in a new role.

You may have dreams of one day becoming an actress, or owning your own business., or traveling the world, or any number of things. You know that there is something special about you. You have dreams of doing big things, and you just don’t want to stay in the same old tired existence. But they see you as their sister, friend, child, wife. They don’t see you as someone running a company or acting on the big screen. Some people just don’t want you to succeed and leave them behind. They don’t want to do anything different, and they don’t want you to do anything different either.  So they make fun of you, or discourage you from doing the things that you want to do, and generally they encourage you to stay where you are. Some people really think they are protecting you by encouraging you to stay in the safety zone of what you know and are already doing.

Well back to this lovely lady. She had stepped out of her comfort zone and was doing some new things. She was meeting new people and doing things she had only imagined, but had never seen herself doing. She was making it happen and I was very proud of her progress and her success. I had a vision of her greatness and the things she was going to be doing.  Then I received a text message in which she apologized to me, because after much thought and prayer, my vision for her, was not right for her. I stopped her and told her that she did not have to apologize to me for doing what she felt was right for her to do.

Never apologize to someone for doing the things that you want to do, or don’t want to do. This is your life and it is all about you and the things that make you happy. Just like people can have a thought of the things that they think you can’t do, people can also have the thought of the things they “think” you should do. Only you know what is best for you at any time in your life. And never apologize for doing just that. When you are doing the things that you want to do, you have a peace about your decision. You feel good about it. And that is the most important thing. Live your life on your terms…Always!