How You Show Up: Letting Go of the Expectations You Never Agreed To

We don’t experience the elements or individuals in our lives for what they are, but for how they show up. We often mistake someone’s role for their purpose—when in reality, the two aren’t causal, just  correlated.

The same goes for us.

We are not defined by what we did, what we do, or what was done to us. We are, however, shaped by what we choose not to do, what we refuse to do, and what we will not allow to be done to us.

We’re also defined by how we accept things as they are—and as they were. And even more so, by how we find gratitude in what took place. In that act, we create a full picture, one worth framing and hanging as a reminder: we are not bound by others’ expectations, nor by the roles we happen to hold.

It takes courage to explore. It takes humility to inquire. Because once we realize nothing is quite as it seems, we begin to understand that a role doesn’t define a person. It’s how they show up that does.

After all, it’s about what you do, not what you say. And the first act—the most important act—is to simply show up. From that point on, everything follows.