“My goal is not to be better than anyone else, but to be better than I used to be.” — Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
Eccentric wit, author and playwright Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900), is often quoted as saying, “You’d worry less about what people think of you if you realized how seldom they do.” (Sometimes attributed to Mark Twain.)
Lao Tzu said, “Care about people’s approval, and you will always be their prisoner.” Even Benedict Cumberbatch offers this pearl: “If you have an over-preoccupation with trying to please people’s expectations, you can go mad.”
Sure, we all want to be loved and accepted, but this most human desire can hamper us when we let the opinions of others decide how we ought to live our lives. Pursuing our own passions can seem a lonely road, yet if we allow our courage to speak louder than our fears, we learn that this is our authentic path to fulfillment.