Tatiana Regan – The Power of Doing Your Own Thing

Listen to this article

Every parent wants what is best for their child and this can often result in an overbearing pressure on your shoulders to do as they wish. My best friend Tatiana Regan went through this when she was younger and I saw first hand just how hard it was for her to go through. Tatiana Regan was supposed to become a doctor, that is what her family wanted for her and given that her father was in the profession, he clearly had ideas that she would follow in his footsteps. From a young age Tatiana was working towards eventually becoming a doctor and seemed quite resigned to her fate. As she approached 15 however her priorities greatly changed and she decided that she wanted to help people in a different way, traveling the world as she set up a charity, something which didn’t go down well with her parents.

Your Own Mind

Something which made me so proud of Tatiana was that by 15 years old she knew her own mind, not only did she know what she wanted to do, she also knew why she didn’t want to become a doctor. Tatiana loved the science side of things but she just didn’t want to be working for 15 hours a day for years and years of her life. This helped her to tell her parents about her new plan because she had real reasons as to why she didn’t want to do what they wanted her to.

Taking Ownership

Tatiana knew that if she was going to go off and do her own thing that she couldn’t rely on her parents for anything by way of support, otherwise they may have used it against her. And so when Tatiana was 16 she began working evenings and weekends to save up enough money to go traveling. On top of this, she was able to differ her first year of college so that she could sample what life on the road was like, and would still have a plan B when she came home if it didn’t work out. If you are going to go against the grain then you must take ownership of your decision.

Parents’ Love

It is fair to say that Tatiana’s parents, in particular, her father, were absolutely livid when they found out what Tatiana was planning to do. Eventually, however it became clear that whilst they did have this dream for their daughter, they also loved her very much and knew that they had raised a strong and independent woman. They didn’t support Tatiana on her decision but they did still show her love and this didn’t cause a fracture in the family. This is really important to remember because many believe that they will cause their parents’ so much heartache that it will change the relationship. Parents will always support you eventually, and they may even respect you more for taking a decision like this.