Acceptance

Who defines social norms? Who sets the protocols- which need to be followed in order to be called normal? What is normal?

Our society drives pleasure from others’ misery. The people, who are the happiest, are generally also the most critical. They might not be perfect individuals, but they do the job of evaluating the shortcomings of others perfectly. 

The kind of life which I choose to live seems wayward, meaningless and rebellious to most people I know! The people who are in a position to judge what kind of a life you lead; the people who might/ might not have achieved anything substantial in their lives to evaluate whether you are leading your life in the right direction. But society does not choose such people on the basis of how they have fared in their own lives, but on the basis of how long they have lived and how much they have criticized. Everybody has a right to their opinions, and I have every right to feel offended by their opinions about me. 

The dense beard seems wrong to them. The body-art makes me an outcast in their eyes. The outright questions I put forward to all their social diktats make them feel I am rebellious towards their authority. And these negative vibes which I get from them drives me. I feel empowered by their disapproving stares. I become headstrong by their inaudible whispers behind my back. 

But in the end all I want them to know is I want to be how God made me. I want to live the way I feel right. I want to do things I am passionate about without the fear of “What will the society think about it?” running continuously in my mind. I want to have a fulfilling life; and a sense of fulfillment comes neither from money, nor from love, nor from power - it comes from being happy. I cannot find a way to be happy, if I am not being allowed to be myself. I crave for acceptance of certain people, of people whom I do not want to lose, of people whom I love and look up to. But I cannot alter myself in order to be accepted by them. Because then I am not being true to myself. I want to live my life as it seems fit to me. And I want to make my own set of mistakes while I am at it.

“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” ~George Bernard Shaw