Walk your own path! Walk your own damn path! Don’t follow someone else’s path. Don’t follow the path your parents predestined for you just because you feel an emotional debt to them. Don’t go down a path that looks like yours, but is actually a made-up societal idea of who you should be! Don’t follow a path just because you fell on it. Don’t go the way you feel a slavish duty, because that’s what you need to do according to the dominant social-cultural standards! Walk your own way! If you’re going to try, go all the way! Otherwise, don’t even start! If you’re going to try, go all the way!
It can mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives, jobs, and maybe even your mind. Go all the way! It can mean you won’t eat for 3 or 4 days, it can mean isolation. Isolation is a gift. All others are a test of your endurance, how much you really want to do it. When things are hard, it’s okay to feel low. It’s okay to want to cry. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed. There is nothing wrong with that! It means choosing your own path in a very conscious way. We all possess an inner wolf, a thirst for freedom, truth and authenticity. If we seek to live a meaningful life, if we want to satisfy our destiny, our job is to listen to that inner wolf, our secret, wild nature. Walking your own path, at some point, always requires a conscious choice to say “Yes!” This seems right to me and this is what my soul longs for!” They will hate you and their hatred will be perfect, like a brilliant diamond, like a knife, like a mountain, like a wolf! At some point during your life’s journey, you will have to accept that you are a lone wolf. You will have to travel alone. You will have to do unusual things, break free from the pack, ask difficult questions and face truths that can alienate you from others. If you’re going to try, go all the way! There is no other feeling like it! You will be alone with the gods and the nights will burn with fire.
Do it! Do it! To the end! Be discerning. See through prejudices. Ignore the haters and keep moving forward. Even if you are tired of fighting keep moving forward! To be a lone wolf is to be a warrior. Do it! Being a lone wolf means standing up for what you believe in and stepping boldly into the unknown wilderness. It is worth it! I can guarantee you that and reassure you until I get blue in the face, but in the end, you have to find this out for yourself. Realize and accept that there will be pushback, whether from friends, family members, or society at large, you will inevitably encounter naysayers. At some point, you will encounter cynics, people who destroy the joy and those who are gloomy, who want to bring you down to their level. The reason they fight you is because, in their minds, you invalidate their way of being. By bravely creating your own path, you make them look back on their lives and decisions. If, on some level, they realize that they have followed the crowd and not made any unique decisions on their own, they will feel a certain amount of resentment that they will project onto you. Although it is not pleasant to accept this, realize that the problem is with them, not you! Everyone who follows the path with their heart will experience social discomfort at some point. You are certainly not the only one facing this problem.
Just keep moving forward and remind yourself that it’s not up to anyone to dictate how your life should be but you. Ask yourself, “What do I really want?” This is not a question you need to ask just once. This is a question you keep asking on your journey, over and over a thousand times. Keep putting your focus back on what you want, not what others want to project or impose on you! What do you feel called to do? What do you want to achieve in your life? What fantastic roads are you afraid to walk on because they are so foreign, but secretly attract you? Our roads are not static, they constantly change, develop and change. By asking yourself this question again and again, you will be able to constantly rediscover yourself. Instead of being stuck in an old and backward way of life, you will be in tune with your soul.
Love yourself and be your own best friend! Accepting the way of the wolf and taking responsibility for your life can be lonely. If you are your own worst enemy, your journey will be a million times more difficult. But if you can focus some of that energy on learning to love and accept yourself just the way you are, your journey will be a million times easier! Practicing self-compassion and learning to love yourself are the most powerful tools and powers you can ever possess. Try to learn a little more about yourself, your strengths and weaknesses every day! Self-discovery and self-understanding are tremendously important aspects of walking your own path. As the wise master Lao Tzu once wrote: “He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.” Only when you are able to get to know yourself deeply can you truly accept who you are and confidently walk your path. Walking the path of the wolf will inevitably confront you with some terrifying situations. Even just starting the journey into those mysterious forests is terrifying. Following your heart and listening to your calling is not the same as shining sunshine and roses as many people make it out to be! It often requires a terrible sacrifice and the ability to look fear straight in the eye, without turning away. Keep your goal in mind! Reaffirm your worth and inner strength and keep going! Don’t let anything or anyone try to bring you down! And if you do fall, keep picking yourself up again and again.
Remember, you can do anything! Do it even though you’re scared! Have the courage to be vulnerable! Embrace the wild and irrational part of you that serves as your inner compass! Listen to your inner feelings and allow your animal self to be filled with passion! You don’t have to be tamed or suppressed anymore! Walking your own path and embracing your lone wolf means you finally have freedom! You have the freedom to feel the wind in your hair, the sun on your face and the earth under your feet! Your life is your work! Your destiny is in your hands! Those who cannot create art, will not understand art. They will consider their failures as creators, failures of the world! When they cannot love completely, they will believe that your love is incomplete and then they will hate you. And their hatred will be perfect. Like a knife, like a mountain, like a tiger, like poison! You will be alone with the gods and the nights will burn with fire. Do it!
