It's 1:00 a.m., I'm flossing my teeth, and my brain suddenly gives me one sentence that sums up a whole lot of the important things I've learned in my life. So here it is, free for the taking:
Make your decisions based on what you do want, not on what you think you should want.
We get a lot of messages telling us, directly or indirectly, what we should want - social influence, family values, the platitudes spouted by those around us,* themes in pop culture, the prevailing wisdom in advice columns, the goals set in self-help books - they all seem to be nudging us towards having uniform wants. I have learned to look critically at my goals and analyze whether they are things I really do want or just things I've been conditioned to want, and to work towards what I really do want, even if it is universally unpopular. The choices for which I've had the least support are the ones that I regret the least.
*Yes, I do realize that this whole thing is a platitude and therefore negates itself.
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