How often have you heard someone telling you “I’m the type who likes to be busy.” Or “My house is always neat and tidy.” “I’m a class-topper.” Or even “I always play to win.”
The list can go on and on.. “I CAN NEVER…” ,“I’M TOO FINNICKY TO …”, “I’VE ALWAYS BEEN A…”,
You might think “What’s wrong in saying all that?” Problem is when we say such things we’re setting ourselves up. We tend to get so attached to that cute little story we’ve created for ourselves, we want that story to come true. Every single time. And when even once something that doesn’t conform to our story happens, we feel the heavens have collapsed on us! We feel lost, identityless!
I’ve seen people who live their stories all their lives. They carry their labels on them whether they change professions, cities, relationships..
We need to let go of these labels. We are human beings. Intelligent, versatile human beings with an ability to continuously learn, adapt and change. We all know that life is constantly dishing out newer and unpredictable challenges to us every now and then. Why then would you want to be the same person today as you were yesterday?
Someone might say “I’m a short-tempered person.” Well as long as he’s got that ‘SHORT-TEMPERED’ label on him, he’s bound to not change, or evolve. Ask yourself. Have I labeled myself in any way? If you have, why not shed those labels, you might just find that life’s a lot more relaxed without them. And nobody cares about your labels anyway.
Try something new today. Play football with your son. Try an exotic recipe. Read a financial newspaper. Go cycling. Go to a restaurant you’ve never tried. Dance till midnight. Don’t let the “I CAN’T, I’VE NEVER, I’M NOT THE TYPE WHO, I’M TOO OLD TO..” come in the way. Unlabel yourself. Remind yourself. “I can be whatever I want to be. Anytime. Anyday. Because I’m human.” You might just find that that’s all the label you’ll ever need!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
This is the most practical and important problem in day to day life of so called modern society, due to situation we ourselves slave to our habbits unless we balance our outerself with our true innerself that is beyond body and mind we can’t change our pattern of our life.
I just wanted to take a moment to comment and let you know that I’m reading your blog posts, and they’re very insightful and very motivating for me. Thank you for the effort you put into writing and posting them.
Regarding this particular post, what you’ve said is quite good.
Labels are made for THINGS, not people. They are made to help us organize our filing systems in the office, or our canisters of noodles in the kitchen. They were never meant to be applied to human beings, even when we’re applying them to ourselves. They are at the best limiting, and at the worst…utterly destructive.
Looking forward to your future posts!