Have you ever struggled with the weight of expectations? What others think you should or could be doing, or what you envision others are thinking of you?

In life, there are both stated and unsaid societal expectations. Go to college, get a job, get married, buy a house, have children. Deviations from those norms can leave us and those around us second-guessing.

Expectations make us think. Expectations make us question. Sometimes the expectations are only in our head.

We don’t need to do what’s always been done. We don’t need to be the same as everyone.

We are unique, we are individuals, and we can choose our life for ourselves. What matters in the end is who we are as a person, not what others think. Let us remember that life is choice and we can make it however we want it, because we’re the one who lives it in the end.

As Gavin DeGraw’s lyrics go:

“… I’m surrounded by identity crisis
Everywhere I turn
Am I the only one who noticed?
I can’t be the only one who’s learned
… I don’t want to be anything
Other than what I’ve been trying to be lately
All I have to do is think of me
And I have peace of mind
… I’m tired of looking ’round rooms
Wondering what I gotta do
Or who I’m supposed to be
I don’t want to be anything other than me.”