If we are not aware of these rules which have been handed down to us, it would take a long time to realize how largely they have shaped our existence. We are most familiar with the pattern where children take up professions of their parents. Take, for instance, a girl who is born incredibly creative, but this talent is stifled since she opts to be a lawyer just like her father. However, she turns out as a mediocre lawyer, not because she did not develop the skills or she lacks the aptitude for lawyering, but because her heart was not into what she was doing. Eventually, she leaves her profession and pursues art— her real calling, and becomes a successful artist. Finally, she realizes that she pursued lawyering as a career because at the back of her mind was her father’s rule: there is no money in art. While the time she spent as a lawyer is irretrievably gone and wasted, she makes her new-found wisdom work for her in further identifying other patterns in her life that limit her to become fully what she is.
It is true that by following rules life choices are simpler and one is not fully responsible for decisions one makes which explains why we seldom challenge cultural or societal norms. Doubtless, it requires a lot of courage to ignore age-old rules, but the gains are remarkably immense in terms of personal growth and fulfillment.