Accessorize, customize, innovize, you-i-tize! Don’t always follow the rules laid out to you by your supposed superiors or betters. Does it matter that others think you’re right or wrong? Is it necessary that you follow society’s rules 24/7? What happens if you do? Do you get brownie points on your invisible scorecard in the sky?

Many rules are simply social constructs that we ourselves give power. The meanings we apply to these rules forces us to adhere and succumb to social pressures if we fall even a single step out of bounds.

So what? Challenge the earth. Challenge the sky. Go against the reality that constricts you so. The fear of rejection and embarrassment will try and block your path, but make sure to act anyway. I’ve been made insecure multiple times from actions that I knew would give me strange looks. In the end though, everything turned out fine.

Here are some tips to get the ball rolling. It’s not hard to add your own personal spin:

- Play your favorite songs in the company of others, regardless of they may think.

- Sing in public if you feel like singing. However, don’t stop there. Sing in your own hip, sweet style.

- If you have a good idea, make it known. When the listeners laugh, proceed to show them up.

- Customize whatever you own. Use stickers, markers, and crayons if necessary.

- Negativity almost never produces good results. Be optimistic, positive, and forever hopeful.

- Being realistic is boring because that’s how everyone tends to think: realistically. Become a dreamer. Color outside the lines.

- Switch your daily routine up a bit. Instead of watching TV in the morning, go for a run or lie down by the beach to catch the sea/lake air.

- Remember there’s no RIGHT way of doing things. Write your own definitions to words or phrases to meanings you’re not content with.

- Be creative. Take the scenic route to work, tomorrow morning.

- Hang up posters in your room. Just because you’re grown up doesn’t mean you can’t personalize your living space.

- Start up a conversation with someone you don’t know and leave behind the “don’t talk to strangers” mindset. Life’s too short to be afraid of meeting new people.

The worst thing you can do is never venture outside of the lines.  You’ll never know what is possible if you don’t.

“Each one of you has something no one else has, or has ever had: your fingerprints, your brain, your heart. Be an individual. Be unique. Stand out. Make noise. Make someone notice. That’s the power of individuals.” – Jon Bon Jovi

photo credit: bobsmade