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| GO FOR IT! |
When I think of peer
pressure, I think of those awkward days of adolescence. Pimples and emotional growing
pains when it was normal to seek your identity by looking like everybody
else. The days of yearning to be accepted
and included in a group so that you’d know that you were “okay”. When please accept me
was the cry of your heart.
A basic definition; “Peer
pressure is when you feel you 'have to' do something that you might not usually
choose to do. It is when you choose to do this to fit in with your peers.” Women’s and Children’s Health Network
3/17/15
Thank God you’re all grown
up now and don’t desperately need the acceptance of your peers. You follow your
own heart and vision.
Or do you still walk in step
with what others think instead of doing what your heart tells you to do? Are you afraid to step out and expand your
dream because others might not agree with your moves?
You have to listen to your
inner voice, your heart. You have to
know yourself to be able to withstand the pressure of your peers or society.
There can be an opposing pressure to conform to their image of who you should
be or what you should do. But others
can’t see your heart or know your path.
It’s important to find your
own way with the wisdom and counsel from others you trust, of course, but God
has put a GPS in us that will guide us to our destiny. Through prayer and relationship with God in Jesus
Christ, we move toward our purpose and destiny.
I had been working at an
insurance company as a data entry person just before I was widowed. At that
time of change I was faced with a decision. I had the opportunity to explore my
potential or go back to the safety of a low paying limited growth job. Not many of my peers understood why I wanted
to go back to school at my age. Conventional wisdom of society would tell me
that I was too old to start something new and difficult.
A counselor friend told me
that I shouldn’t reach for more but be content where I was. I felt the pressure
pulling me to keep the status quo and return to my old job. That was the
feedback coming to me from various directions including my “sensible self”. But
I also felt the pressure from inside of me to go after something more. The push was to see the next thing for my
life, to grow beyond the known into a future that would enlarge me.
I made a break for it and
ran after more. No, I didn’t become some rich and famous person but I did
progress and more than that I learned two powerful principles.
- You don't have to get permission to pursue your purpose
- It's not too late to become who God created you to be
Even as the angel declared
to Mary when he told her that her cousin Elizabeth would have a baby in her old
age – “with God nothing shall be impossible” Luke 1:36-37.
It takes a some courage to
leave the warm blanket of “fitting in" but I say – follow your heart, Go for it!
With the help of the Holy Spirit, it
will bring out the best in you.
Is there something you want to do or something you
have already done that you gave yourself
permission to do?
Please feel free to share in the comments below.
