Who’s Life Are You Living?

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought. ~Basho

If you’ve read my bio in the about me page, than you know that I’m currently a graduate student and plan on becoming a Dentist. What you might not know about is how I got started on this path. I would have to say that the fact that me becoming a dentist would make me 5th generation among my family to be in this field had a hefty impact on my decision.

On this chosen path, my mother happens to be my primary role-model. I started working in her office in my mid-teens, and have had a close up perspective of her work life, and the lifestyle that becomes accessible from this line of work. I liked it, but also thought that I would do things differently, make ‘improvements’ and take things to another level.

What this tells me is that if I do exactly as she has done in her business that I will likely receive the same results. If i want to live her life, then I merely have to walk in her footsteps. This is fine to a certain point, but a time will come when I will have to make my own fork in the road.

Essentially, my mother is seeking happiness, I’m sure of it, because we all are. However, I’m pretty sure that me and her have a slightly different idea of what happiness means to us. This is what I think Basho was trying to say in the quote I’ve listed above. If I follow her footsteps, I may not obtain the level of happiness that she has. If I follow my own path, my own dreams, my own desires, then I will be well on my to achieving my own happiness.

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Photo by Zanastardust

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http://7pproductions.com/blog Al at 7P

Great quote and great story. Sometimes we’re on autopilot, but we need to actively choose our path to ensure we’re headed towards somewhere that will truly make us happy.
http://www.alexshalman.com Alex Shalman

Hey Al, thank you for stopping by and stumbling the page!
Anna

interesting use of the quote and your own life experience.. who knows what kinda dentist you will turn out to be- so many possibilities are open- sugury, orthodontistry, etc. The world is your oyster ..a word of advice.. u might wanna change the title to Whose instead of Who’s though(to be grammatically correct). I really like the pictures and the website- looks very nice!
http://www.alexshalman.com Alex Shalman

You are very right, and thank you for correcting my spelling mistake. I’ll let it sit as is to remind me of how being mindful is very important!
http://delightfulwork.com Tom Volkar

I’m betting that you’ve already chosen your own fork in the road. I like what Parker Palmer tells us in his excellent book, Let Your Life Speak.

He gives us a totally fresh and insightful look at true calling. Palmer proves that throughout our lives the voice of right livelihood has been calling out to us. Even though you’re a young man, if you go over the significant points in your life I’m sure you’ll see an internal theme has been developing. This theme has been guiding you to take your own path all along.

Thanks for the reminder to live our own life, Alex. It’s really the only one we can live well and fully.
http://thinksimplenow.com Tina Su – Think Simple Now

You are right, we are all seeking the same thing: happiness and fulfillment. But we have different expressions and ideas for what that means to us. If we are not conscious, it’s easy to follow someone else’s life.. or rather ‘Borrowed Desires’. Desires which are not your own, but belongs to someone you’re close to and/or admires and sounded good to you.

The question I like to ask is this: If you had all the money and resources in the world, is this what you would be doing? What would you be doing?
http://www.alexshalman.com Alex Shalman

Tina, there isn’t just one thing that I would be doing, and I don’t want to limit myself by placing myself into a single category. There are many things I want to do, and I plan to do them. =)
http://www.knowtheledge.org Know The Ledge

That is a great quote, and something that I (and others) struggle with sometimes. I am currently trying to balance my dreams with the financial security of myself and my family, and it’s not easy.