I Am Dara

"You can choose what you do; you can't choose what you like to do."  I have a lot of notions about what I wish I liked to do, about the subjects and occupations that I wish interested me.  But it doesn't matter what I wish I were like.  I am Gretchen { or insert your own name}." Gretchen Rubin (The Happiness Project)

I haven't been able to stop thinking about this concept since I read "The Happiness Project".  How often do we do something because we feel like we should. And how often do we NOT do something we would enjoy because we feel it isn't good enough or worthy enough or "cool" enough. 

How often do we pretend to have fun at an event or pretend we like a particular kind of food or fake interest in a popular subject, when really it's not fun, we don't like it, and we aren't interested.  

Embarassingly, I think I do this more often than I would have initially thought.  It's not that I'm fake or pretending, but I WISH I liked certain things more than I do.  

My best example?  Wine. I do not like wine.  Oh how I wish I savored wine with the passion that some people do.  Apparently, it's the perfect cure to a long day.  It's super classy and distinguished.  You can plan whole vacations around a love for wine.  I will continue to taste wine, in hopes that one day, I too will love wine.  But right now, I don't.  So why do I wish I did? 

As a matter of fact, I really don't love any alcoholic drink.  Even the ones I like, I always think would undoubtedly taste much better, minus the alcohol. :)  But why do I feel pressure to enjoy it?  Why do I feel the need to have a token drink when I go out with friends?  

The sad part about wishing your opinions were different, or worse, pretending they actually are is that it keeps you from discovering what you actually do like and who you actually are.  

"I have an idea of who I wish I were, and that obscures my understanding of who I actually am." Gretchen Rubin (The Happiness Project)

So who am I really?

>>>I am a girl who would prefer to sip on a diet coke than a glass of expensive red wine.

>>>I am a girl who would choose a cheeseburger and french fries over filet mignon.

>>>I am a girl who watches college football all day long on Saturdays (and doesn't feel guilty about it).

>>>I am a girl who doesn't stay up to date with current events. (Oops)

>>>I am a girl who really doesn't enjoy shopping.

>>>I am a girl who loves binge watching TV shows.

>>>I am a girl who loves to read, both the classics like Pride and Prejudice and Emily Giffin's easy-read, definitely non-classic books.

>>>I am a girl who really wants to embrace the organic lifestyle, but when push comes to shove, is just too cheap. 

>>>I am a girl who loves Twilight, but has never seen Lord of the Rings. 

>>>I am a girl who wishes she could whip up beautiful, healthy, delicious meals for her family on a nightly basis, but really, just can't get it together enough. 

These are just small, surface examples, but these are things that are true about me, that maybe in the past I would have tried to change or hide or deny.  But these are my truths, uncultured and embarrassing or not : )

I am Dara. And I'm going to try and be more like her and less like anyone else.

So what activity or food or interest did you WISH you liked??