It’s okay to choose yourself

Sometimes you ask yourself why did you choose yourself?

The you in you, once, would never have done so. That you would have sacrificed everything for the people you loved then. That you was always secondary to you. So how did that you disappear so completely? Why did you let that you get replaced? And does that make this you, the bad you?

At some point you have all come to this and wondered where the line dividing the old and new you began or ended. You wondered why you changed, why your priorities shifted, why you became so self centered. But what nobody would tell you is, It’s okay to choose yourself.

Then, you were young. And naive. And idealistic. Then you had dreams that were only growing, desires you had only learn to comprehend. You had known the people in your life longer than you had perhaps known your true self. So then, it was easier to choose others above yourself.

You have changed since then. You have grown in a world different than the one you knew, the people around you had left and entered your sphere and you had seen reality. You have, by now, measured how much you can take before you break. You  know how far to push yourself to reach where you want to be. You have redefined your dreams and goals and given more time to being yourself. Everybody matters, but you are your priority now. There’s a time in life when it’s okay to be your own priority. If you keep putting yourself on hold, others would learn to do the same to you.

You had to cut some people out of your life because they spell trouble in every way. Because living with them is like a smooth road that ends in nowhere. So you walk out. Leave.

It’s okay to be cautious of who you let in. The older you get the harder it is to let people go, even the wrong ones. You have to protect yourself. You don’t want to be broken beyond measure and cure, so you put your wit on display, wear your armor of sarcasm and tell them truths to scare them away. If they are meant to be, they’ll find away in.

Don’t think the world will let you be. Epithets will follow, disdain will echo and the world will hate your guts. But the last time you were lost, the world couldn’t have cared less. So don’t let the world make you feel guilty.

Remember, though, there’s a time for everything. True, at some point in your life you have to choose yourself to find yourself and to find your happiness. But if you keep choosing yourself again and again, all that will remain is yourself. And the world’s a lonely place to be without somebody. So once you have found some measure of footing, start caring for the world beyond you. Because sooner or later you would have to come back and live in it.