Beyond The Yellow Brick Road

In this world of choices and expectations, each of us must find our way, our own unique path through life. I believe that the popular direction, the direction we are conditioned by society to head in, is not always the best option. From a young age we are told in a hundred different shrill voices to obey the status quo—to follow the yellow brick road. Once in a while though, that yellow brick road is not all it's cracked up to be, sometimes that great and powerful wizard turns out to be nothing but a man behind a curtain.

Throughout my life I have, more than a few times, compared my personal path to that of others and felt a little disappointed, jealous even. However, no matter how many times I have felt this way, I always return to the conclusion that I am actually pretty content with how my life has turned out. As the Elton John song, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, puts it: "I've finally decided my future lies, beyond the yellow brick road." I may not have taken the "traditional route”; I did not go to college, I do not live away from home or work for a living but my life still has value.

I feel that people, all too often, are forced to give up parts of themselves in order to conform to one narrow view of success. Things like getting into the right college, finding the perfect job or even getting married and having kids, are not necessarily the only ways to be satisfied with our existence. I am not suggesting that everyone should forsake all societal conventions, forget all responsibility and fly around the world alone in a hot-air ballon. I just personally hold the belief that aspirations such as having a great deal of money—reaching that emerald city—do not always guarantee happiness, that it is truly found from within ourselves. 

I believe that wherever we go, whatever we do in life, we can find fulfillment each day by staying true to ourselves. It can be easy to just go through the motions, day in, day out, and begin to lose sight of what makes us who we are. It is very important, in my opinion, to take time to do the things that we love, to be creative, express ourselves and explore new interests. We should strive to make every day uniquely our own, live in such a way that no one could replace us.

The better we know ourselves and the more we be ourselves, the more freedom we will ultimately have. Our paths through this life are truly decided by what we are made of, what is within us. After all, the wizard did not give the scarecrow a brain, the tin-man a heart or the lion courage, they had it all along. It was not the yellow brick road that got Dorothy where she wanted to go, it was her will to go forward.