"If you send up a weather vane or put your thumb up in the air every time you want to do something different, to find out what people are going to think about it, you're going to limit yourself. That's a very strange way to live." |
Jessye Norman (1945- )interview in the New York Times, 1987
I am struck at how much time many of us spend in attempting to please those around us. Whether it be our friends or family, people that we respect or even people of less consequence to us, personally, when the formulation of our decisions is dependent upon the opinions of others, it can be hampering and a down-right dream killer.
Many a worthy aspiration has been deferred and even abandoned, based upon the fear of criticism. When you consider the life-time implications for this behavior, it's serious, because peoples' opinions are subject waver with the wind. The flip side of that coin is that many a prize has been obtained, just a little way beyond what initially appeared to be a defeat. Choose today to make sure your decisions are independent of the opinions of others.
