The rules we’ve been living by—and why it might be time to break them

Most of us are following rules we never actually agreed to.

Not the loud, obvious kind. The quiet ones.
“Don’t wear that.”
“Don’t speak up.”
“Don’t take up space.”

These beliefs can start with a passing comment or a cultural message. We absorb them. And over time, they become the walls we live inside.

But we can choose to question them.
We can choose to break them.
And sometimes, that shift begins with something small—like wearing the thing we were once told we couldn’t.

If someone you love has been following a rule that no longer serves them—send this video their way. It might be just what they need to hear.

Transcript

Do you want to know one of the most rebellious things I’ve ever done?

I’m actually doing right now.

I wore a t-shirt with horizontal stripes.

I know. Not exactly stealing a car, is it?. But for me? It was huge.

See, when I was at school, a teacher told me I was a pear shape. Then she looked me dead in the eye and said: “You must never, ever wear horizontal stripes.”
It was said with the same tone as “Don’t do drugs.” Or “Don’t steal a car.” 

And I believed her. For twenty-five years. I would walk into shops, see a top I loved—striped—and think: “Not for me. Not allowed. Not with these hips.”

I thought I was being sensible. Stylish. But what I was really doing was policing my body. Shrinking myself to fit someone else’s rules.

Then one day, I’d had enough. I walked into a store, grabbed a t-shirt with bold stripes, tried it on—and guess what? I didn’t burst into flames. I didn’t get arrested by the Fashion Police. The world didn’t end.

I bought that t-shirt. Cut off the tags. Walked out of the shop wearing it. That was the rebellious part. The part where I stopped waiting for permission to take up space.

So here’s the thing I learned: most of the “rules” we’ve been given about our bodies aren’t real. They’re just control dressed up as advice.

You don’t need a certain shape to wear stripes. You don’t need someone else’s approval to wear anything.

If like it, and you feel good in it—that’s all the permission you’ll ever need.

Wear the stripes. Take up space. Be the rebel in your own story.