really live

we have a choice how we live.
we can sit back and live a life that accommodates the majority.
we can apologize when we are not really sorry
to appease the passive aggressive blame.
we can choose to really live or live half dead.

that's the reality.
when we live for others and not by the conviction that we live for god,
we are not really alive.
we are not fully being the person we were intended to be.
we are allowing the perception of others and their opinions to shape our lives.
we are giving up our true self for a cheap plastic replication.

but it is a choice.
you can choose to be really alive.
you can choose to set aside the expectations others have for you and live you.
you can choose to peel off the layers of false perceptions and throw them away.
you can choose to be free.

how to really live?
it is simple.
it is hard.
it takes practice.
it is worth it.

i live a life that is fully real, fully alive, and fully me. i wish this for everyone. i dream of a place where everyone i know is really alive. when we do not choose to really live we effect the lives around us. i have vibrant life in front of me everyday. i want my children to embrace themselves without any pressure or expectation from me. why would i want them to have any less than a full life? i watch my wife choose to really live everyday. it does not mean her everyday is easy, it means she is fully herself. i lived half my life trying to accommodate expectations and i failed more often than succeeded. i was miserably half dead. as i  really live, i love the circle of people who celebrate really living with me. it is few but full. when i face the confusion of being misunderstood, i remember who i am by remembering those who fully see me really alive. i hope we all can really live, fully ourselves.