I was on the phone yesterday with a dear friend of mine. A like-minded friend and one of the few people I’ve kept in my personal circle as my little life journey keeps trudging along. (Thankfully).

My friend and I were indulging in a mutual bitch session. One in which he related an insulting thing a friend of his said to him, and that in general he’s been met with a lot of narrow-minded thinking and judgement he doesn’t care for since coming back to the lovely Midwest for a temporary stay.

Of course, I’m sitting on the other end, agreeing with everything he’s saying because I’ve had the same conclusions.

The idea that life should be a “certain” way or people should have “certain” things or have done “certain” things is wrong. It just is. And what’s worse is that most people who feel that way without questioning it, have the saddest little benchmark for what those certain things are. You know like the limbo bar is just barely off the sand. And you’ve still got to shimmy your ass under it. You’ve got to find a way to the other side without getting down on your knees and you can’t jump over.

What analogy am I making here? Whether you’re pursuing what’s right for you or what’s right for everyone else, you’re still playing limbo, buddy. You’re still making personal sacrifices. You’re still struggling. Except one way has a point and the other one doesn’t.

Can you guess which is which? That’s right. The one where you’re making sacrifices to get to where you personally want to be and have the life you’ve actually dreamed of. That’s the stick worth going under.

And what’s amazing is when you’re doing what’s right for you, you’re also raising the bar at the same time. So eventually, it’s going to get easier and easier to get to the other side.

But when all you’re doing is keeping the bar low, sticking to the same low standards as everyone else, it keeps being a total bitch to crab walk your way under. The bar never gets higher.

And that brings me full circle back to what my friend and I were talking about. He’s surrounded by people who insist on keeping the bar low. Drives him nuts. As it should.

From my blog: itsaculturething.com