For whatever reason, I was so obsessed with the movie Roman Holiday as a teen, and particularly proud of the main character, Ann, for choosing to fulfill her duty over pursuing love at the end of the film (sorry if that spoiled the ending for you, but it came out in like 1953). I’m not sure where this message was first given to me, but for such a long time I believed that doing what was expected of me was always the “right” thing to do. I saw Ann’s sacrifice – giving up an autonomous life for herself so that she could continue to serve others – as something admirable. While in some cases, I’d still agree that it was a fair decision (I mean she was the heir to the throne and her love interest was literally just some guy who lied to her the entire time), my ideas about self-sacrifice have changed.
I enjoyed your post as ever. You might find it useful exploring Human Design