Should

Should. 

The Crossroads of Should and Must, by Elle Luna is her posting on medium.com that went viral and resulted in a book with the same title, and a subtitle of Find and Follow Your Passion.  What struck me deeply about this posting was that I have struggled with Should most of my life. 

Over the years I have always tried to meet the expectations of others, and have become very proficient in my attempts to please others. I rarely stopped, and asked myself what I actually wanted. Rather I continued down the path of Should. 


Luna says, "There are two paths in life: Should and Must.  We arrive at this  crossroads over and over again. And each time, we get to choose."

Now for me I repeatedly turned away from Must and traveled down the road of Should, thinking It was the safer way. The irony was that it was a false road that could never lead to authenticity. In my heart I knew all along that something wasn't right because there was a restlessness in my spirit. I kept thinking something was missing, but I could never quite grasp what it was. 

Luna states that we choose Should because it results in a smooth journey with few risks. "Must is what happens when we stop conforming to other people's ideals and start connecting to our own"  Must is our "most authentic self." 

What I have found to be true, though, is that if you spend a lifetime conforming 
to the expectations of others you lose sight of your authentic self. The next time 
you find yourself at the crossroads of Should and Must, don't be so quick to think that your only choice is Should. What is it that you Must do?