When We Shouldn't Sacrifice Our Essence

Liz Gilbert: "Hadn't I wanted this? I had actively participated in every moment of the creation of this life. So why didn't I see myself in any of it? The only thing more impossible than staying... was leaving. I didn't want to hurt anybody, I wanted to slip quietly out the back door and not stop running until I reached Greenland" from Eat Pray Love the movie.

Sometimes we find ourselves doing something in life and then suddenly we wake up one day to the realisation that we don't want to be living like this. However, it isn't always that simply to follow what our heart tells us to do at any given moment. Other people are involved and depend on our participation. 

A moment such as this usually starts a journey of personal reflection and even self-discovery. The answers to some of the questions that we may begin to ask, are anything except straightforward. Yet, how much of our essence should we sacrifice to keep the people who expect our participation, happy?