To be oneself without Limits

In a world that demands you blend in,
there is only one way to be free:
you must go beyond approval.Beyond the nods of family and friends,
beyond the grip of norms and expectations,
beyond even the quiet judgment of your own inner voice.Only there — past permission —
will you find the life that was meant for you.Yourself without limits.

Chapter Zero

You learned early on to sit still.
To speak when spoken to.
To dampen the spark that made you different.You were told:
Go to this college.
Get this degree.
Marry this person.
Talk this way.
Act in this manner.
Don’t express yourself too much—but also speak up.They said:
“It'll be good for you in the long run.”
“You’ll be happy one day, just keep your head down.”
“Happiness is seen only in the rearview mirror.”So you did.
You tried.
You suffered.
You conformed.They lied.You sowed diligence—but reaped anxiety.
You played your part to the letter—and got no applause.
You sold your life for their dream—and came up empty-handed.Then one evening, you caught your reflection in a darkened window.
And you didn’t look away.
No—you couldn’t look away.Because for the first time...
You saw something in your eyes.
A wildfire you thought was gone.You remembered what it felt like—
To stand untethered.
To stand free.That was the moment.
The break in the pattern.
The crossing of the threshold.You didn’t try harder.
You let go.
You remembered who you were—
without limits.

"People are afraid of themselves, nowadays. They have forgotten the highest of all duties, the duty that one owes to one's self.

Of course, they are charitable. They feed the hungry and clothe the beggar.

But their own souls starve, and are naked.

Courage has gone out of our race. Perhaps we never really had it.

The terror of society, which is the basis of morals,

the terror of God, which is the secret of religion—these are the two things that govern us."

— Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray