Sit still and express yourself!!

We were told:

• Sit still! (Express yourself!)
• Behave and settle down. (Enjoy your freedom!)
• Eat your vegetables. (Quick and Easy dinners in a box!)
• Get a good education. (Experience will get you far in life.)
• Don't fight the system, it's there for a reason. (Challenge things around you.)
• Don't question my authority, I know what is better for you. (Think for yourself!)
• Follow your dreams. (Be practical and future-oriented.)
• Stand up for what you believe. (Don't make a spectacle of yourself.)

Where do we fit in? Most fit in on the safe side. The side that causes the smallest waves. We were fed a bunch of crap. We were told that the world would be ours for the taking if we followed the above rules. Rules and guidelines that are in constant contradiction with each other. No one has the answers. Why is it, that at such a young age we're all going through the same feelings? Feeling lost. Feeling misguided. Feeling unfulfilled. We were told it was going to be simple, right? That with the right tools, we would find success and happiness and wouldn't have to work as hard or as long as our parents did. Life was ours for the taking. So what did we do? We all went out and got our education and started our careers just like we were told to do. We started families and marriages and two car garage homes with family pets and Sunday barbeques. And we can't sleep at night. Why is it that we can't seem to allow ourselves to be happy in the mundane? The regular work that regular people have to do for the rest of their regular lives? We were told to shoot for the stars with our dreams. We all thought we were destined for greatness. World Famous Ecologists. Adventurers. Astronauts. Rock Stars. There is no glory in pushing papers, crunching numbers, digging ditches. If we dreamed of a life, it wasn't one less extraordinary - *that* was not going to ME. I would have one foot in the Amazon and one in the Antarctic. One hand holding the Nobel Prize for Literature and the other digging a well in a 3rd world country. We were to do GREAT things, weren't we? Why are we so damn bitter because we're not? Is this not the life you've carved for yourself? Should we blame those that sat on the sidelines cheering us on for lying to us about the greatness of our potential? Was it a lie? Why can't we just be content to live now? To accept our life is what it is by choices that we have made. Why can't we be overjoyed with life as we know it? Why must we always strive only to be "content"? Life is a bluddy amazing thing.

I've come through some turmoil lately; some heavy decisions that have had my mind occupied and my heart … well, let's just say - a bit withered. I've come face to face with the thought of my own mortality and my own decisions that I have made over the years that have put me in this exact spot that I am today. I'm tired of whining. I'm tired of looking around and saying "Why?" I'm tired of people around me whining. I'm tired of watching people deflect their own responsibility in how their life has turned out. But you can't stop it. You can't help people see the amazing things they have. Even if they're surrounded by their own success - they can't see anything but their failures. You can't change that. Call it the "paradigm shift". Call it the "30-something-crisis". Call it what you will.

The truth is, we are not ALL destined for greatness. Imagine if we were. This world would be considerably more tiresome and boring. But imagine that in our own selves we feel we are great. By our own standards. Measuring our success by what we, alone, think and feel is successful. Challenging ourselves. Finding passion within ourselves. Not expecting the applause and accolades of those that surround us but finding that within ourselves. Yes. I think we were lied to by the people that wanted us to be successful. Maybe giving us something to strive for has made us better? Maybe misguiding us steered us into a future that ended up being more than what they ever imagined for us. Most of us come from "ordinary" families with ordinary dysfunction. How far do you think most people stray from their roots? Is the life you lead so horrible? If it is, why haven't you changed it?

A blogmate wrote about "Enough, is rich". And I just wonder, with each of us, what *is* enough? I know it’s a personal thing. Enough is relative. Should we cast sideways glances at those that want *more* than what we do? More than what it takes to sustain? Maybe if it encroaches upon someone else's freedoms? Where do you draw the line? Has your life afforded you the opportunity to have "enough"? Our culture had dictated that perhaps enough is not GREAT; and we should be great! Is great enough?

Enough.
That's what I have to say.
Enough already.