Now this is a topic. Conforming as defined by almost any reference as "the act of matching attitudes, beliefs and behaviours to what individuals perceive is normal to their society or social group. The influence of small groups and/or society as a whole may result from subtle unconscious influences, or direct and/or overt social pressure."
I almost vomited at this.....My question is, why conform? Be yourself. Who's to say the real norm is not a guy with a Mohawk, who is a vegetarian, and has a cat named Elvis.
As a kid you are taught that grades are important. You go to school and strive to be a good student by getting excellent grades, so that you can go to university and train to become a doctor or lawyer. Then you become one of the many. You get a job, a wife, a house and mortgage and have kids and a dog named spot.....Well that sounds great....although not quite right for me....It doesn't finish there. Then you age. You continue to work, your kids grow and you encourage the process to repeat itself again.
If people are happy doing that, then I say "go for it". It's an honest living and something that we have been conditioned to. But what if you're not happy doing this? What if you want to work with your hands, write a book, become an artist or better still a vet....? The truth is, you should do what makes you feel good and do something that you truly love. So does it mean you are not successful if you don't conform to the norm?
That brings me to my story. My mum saw it very early on in my life. She knew I would not be conventional and I would not conform. She watched me and encouraged me without hesitation. She watched from the bleachers as I dare dream to become a vet and then watched as I became a vet.
What was her role? When I had self doubt she was my rock. A little known fact, is that when I was young I really struggled with grammar and English. Every night, she would sit down and wait for me to read chapters of books to her. She was patient and committed to my dream. It was her dedication, belief and support that got me through the self doubt. The day that university offers came out for vet school was her proudest day. I still remember waking up with my mum running through the house shouting at the top of her lungs "He's in, he's bloody in, he's done it". I was 23, had just finished my agriculture degree. It meant the world to her because it meant the world to me.....
Now I have not been conventional by any means nor have I conformed to "the norm". I was at university until my late 20's. After that I was a large animal veterinarian, an emergency veterinarian, a greyhound veterinarian, a relief veterinarian, a practice manager, and finally an internal medicine specialist.
The idea of being romantic about a non conforming career or just anything is something that I would encourage anyone to do. I've struggled with all of the usual things; people telling me that i couldn't and shouldn't do it, of course that old time good one, money, and worried when work was not coming in. I've borrowed from my retirement to make ends meet and I've lived on packet noodles. Perhaps the better question to ask is "Would you do it again?" Absolutely, without hesitation.....
So the next time you do something, ask yourself;"Am I doing this because I want to, or because it's what is expected of me?" In all honesty I would never want to take the chance that I would be unhappy. We get one shot at this thing called "life". So why worry about what others think. Don't waste the time in a job that doesn't make you happy and don't put your life on hold until you retire. You may not even make it to retirement...... Live your dreams, travel, love, explore, live. Retell stories of your triumphs, adversities, loss and success because these are the things that make you unique. These are the things that make you, you. Live the life that you would love to write about and fall in lover with all over again if you had a second chance at doing it all over again.
"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They are not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do" Rob Siltanen
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