Anything is Possible When We Do the Work

I have a friend who just left the corporate life to stay home and raise her children. She always wanted to be a stay at home Mom and never had the opportunity until they adopted. They paid off their debt, lived on one salary and arranged their life so that she could spend her time and effort bringing strong people into this world. What better way is there to spend her time than forming her children into well adjusted, loved, creative and adventurous adults?

A man must consider what a rich realm he abdicates when he becomes a conformist.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson 1882

I was shocked when she told me how she was mocked, questioned and treated when people heard about this goal. We say we believe in people being able to live their own lives and yet when someone actually makes their life different from ours the first place we go is trying to talk them out of it. She was surprised at the people who continued to pester and question her sanity by leaving the corporate world behind. I could not be prouder of her and her husband for working towards their dream. They worked hard, made decisions that supported what they wanted – even when there were no children in the picture – and they stuck to their guns! Today she is taking her son on a play date with two other kids in the neighborhood…what a great way to spend a Monday!

We are all conformists in one way or another, whether we care to admit it or not. We think we are independent and free thinkers when in reality we all have chosen to abdicate a rich and wonderful realm in order to fit in. Sure we have made our own choices, and yes we all have given up or given in for our greater good. The point here is not to throw it all away in order to prove we are our own person. The point is to celebrate those we think, act, and live different lives than our own AND learn from their courage, strength and joy about how to apply a little of that to our world.

Even if it is just a bit here and there we all could use a little rebellion, a little more difference, a little more chaos and a lot less conformity. Let us give three cheers for the people who choose to live differently than us. THEY give up hope, courage and remind us that anything is possible if you are willing to do the work.