Breaking Free: How I Learned to Choose Myself

Daily writing prompt

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

In ten years, I hope to see myself happy and content in my own skin. Just like I’m starting to feel right now.

I’ve never really liked this question because it sets yourself up for unrealistic expectations. Some hopes come true, others don’t. I honestly try not to think too far ahead. I’ve been let down so many times by imagining a “better” version of my life. One that has never quite arrived

I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself. I refuse to chase the typical version of happiness: money, marriage, children, and the so-called American Dream. Sure, I have goals and aspirations. However, I won’t let them define my worth. They no longer stress me out like they used to.

There was a time when I expected that to come to fruition, being married and having kids. But that was what I was told that I should want, and I believed it. But my life didn’t go down that path, and it took me a long time to realize, that that’s okay.

My hopes for the future are just to be content and happy with myself. For the longest time, I didn’t even know who I truly was inside. I now have a much better understanding of myself, and this new relationship is freeing. It’s metamorphosis in a sense.

I see myself as a butterfly. I’ve been resting and growing little by little in my cocoon. After what seems like years of nurturing, and healing, I’ve finally broken out of that tight space. I’ve been let out into the world with wings to fly. It’s a type of re-birth that I so desperately needed.

So where do I see myself in ten years? Still flying, still growing, and above all choosing myself. Taking one step at a time, at my own pace.

I might be walking a different path than others, but I’ve learned recently not to care what other people think or expect of me. I don’t want to conform to societal norms. I just want to live my life authentically, and right now, I’m just grateful to be myself in a world that tried to make me someone else.