Nike said so

We always say, “Live like you’re going to die tomorrow…”, “Carpe Diem”, “Live for today”, “Just do it”. So…why don’t we? Why do we stop ourselves from doing what matters to us the most? 

Oh…there it is…there is a we…there is an us. I want to live like I’m going to die tomorrow and for the moment but I’m limited because of the we’s and the us’s of my world. As a kid, there was our parents as an adult there is our spouses. You ask, well what about when you were a young adult, you know single? Funny how that works when you’re born into a traditional Indian family. 

You go from living at home, to being married. When you’re living at home, you respect the rules of your parents house. This includes traditions, the way you spend your time, the way you spend your money, what time you come home, where you go etc etc. Not because anyone has told you the rules or they are written on the wall. It’s an unsaid beauty. Once you’re married, it’s not quite the same as living to respect your parents rules, it’s different but very similar. You learn to respect what is important to your spouse/partner/roommate by getting to know what they like/dislike. You learn to share the space and create rules amongst each other, again nothing set in stone but it’s there. 

In the process, we create boundaries for ourselves. We limit ourselves from doing certain things that we may want to do or we think about doing but we don’t because we are respecting someone else be it your spouse, roommate, sibling, parent, friend, co-worker etc. There are also things that limit us, such as our jobs, money, time, commitment etc. Not just the people around us but the things around us also contribute to the boundaries we create.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if we all just let others and ourselves just be? Understand why the other wants to do what they want to do. They may not be doing anything to disrespect you or hurt you (at least as adults we don’t do this, as kids…we may have been a bit on the rebellious side). Sometimes, we just want to do something that is important to seize the day or live in the moment. We spend more time thinking about the things we want to do and how we wish we would just do them. 

Stop stopping yourself and stop stopping others. Take a step back and remind your self and others to live in the moment…and just do it. We just have one life to do it…why waste the opportunity in thinking and wishing. If you have a clean motive and no ill intentions, I support you and (so does Nike!) Just do it :).