When it comes to societal standards, it can be a tricky issue. Because apparently, society has standards for just about everything. They have a way you should talk, look, dress, and even eat. Society tells you who to date, the acceptable terms of dating, and the amount of rubbish you’re to accept from other people. And if for any reason, you fail to live by these standards, just know that you’re gearing yourself up for a life of being a sort of an outcast.
This is because everything that you don’t do, there will be those who will take it personally and antagonize you over it. You can’t avoid it. They’ll come after you, and they’ll do it in a major way. Even if your choices don’t affect them at all, they’ll still feel responsible for getting you back to see the alleged light.
But then, the good thing about all this is that no matter what you do, there are always those who will support your movement. If you choose to follow every rule that society dictates to you, you’ll see those who will cheer you and also those who will think you’re crazy for such a risky endeavor. Also, if you choose to be yourself and disregard societal standards, you’ll also find supporters and those who will always come after you for daring to go against the old ways.
The thing is, there are standards in society for a good reason. Many times, it’s meant to guide us and tell us how to act, especially in relation to others. Because in truth, society doesn’t belong to one person, it belongs to us all. So, I shouldn’t have to be uncomfortable simply because you’re doing what you want. But sadly, that’s the world we live in today. People simply do whatever they want. And many times, societal standards don’t seem to have the best interests of the people at heart.
It gets to a point where it all becomes too toxic, and following it religiously will only set you up for a major heartbreak. When you let society dictate how you look, how you dress, and how you think, you’ll come to realize pretty quickly that society is quite brutal, but not very smart, and its opinion changes faster than anything. You could do something today, and society will cheer you for it, do the exact same thing tomorrow, and they’ll crucify you for it.
This is why you have to live your life strictly on your terms. You do what you want and do it unapologetically. That way, if things don’t go as planned, you know that you did what you felt was right. But when you follow societal standards and it fails, society itself will blame you for that failure. This is the society that pressures young people to make money by any means, but when they do it illegally, it goes ahead to shame them. If you do it legally, but it’s not coming in fast enough, you still get shamed. Even if it’s legal and the money is coming in boatloads, there will still be something to talk about. That’s how serious this is.
We just need to learn to protect our mental health. Because as long as we continue following societal standards, our mental health will be in jeopardy.
