It is hard work being a rebel.  Leading a life of integrity means following your own guidance.  And choosing your own life means fighting a multitude of expectations that surround us on a daily basis.

For instance, if you happen to have a circadian rhythm of naturally staying up late at night and then sleeping late in the day, people think that you are a slacker or make jokes about what you were up to the night before. There is some shame in the choice. You are out of sync with society and therefore made wrong in some way.

Or what about the cultural expectation that it is only ok to be unproductive on the weekends? People have been trained to have free choice only on certain days of the week.

I once lived in Washington State, where it is cloudy and rains a lot. People there dispense guilt in large doses if you don’t spend your time outside on those few nice days of the year, as if you are abusing God’s incredible creation.  Clearly most people prefer to enjoy the sunshine, but what if you happen to also enjoy sitting by the open window, reading a book?

Expectations surround us.  Some are probably useful in terms of making choices. After all, too many choices can be overwhelming.  But what happens when your choices of how to live your own life, moment to moment, do not line up with society’s choices for you?  It is no wonder that we struggle so much in learning to honor our own choices.

The reality that our own desires are coming from deep within is part of our truth. If a person really wants to sit inside despite the sunny day outside, then they really want to do that. Every time that we ignore our own preferences, every time we deny our own knowing, we run the risk of creating tension in our consciousness.  We are out of integrity with our own system.

Of course, one needs the maturity to discern the difference between purpose driven desires and unhealthy desires, but it seems important to at least begin by acknowledging the desires in the first place. This is the beginning of setting intentions – because until a person can identify and honor the desire itself, one cannot truly FEEL an intention and set it on it’s way to manifestation.