Exploring Happiness #28- Independence Poem by June Stepansky

I will not
let you define me
as I once did.
Seeing your love
for me in your eyes,
I believed I was loveable.

I no longer need your eyes
to verify my worth.
My dreams will be
my responsibility-
my sorrows, my joys,
my own.

It is easier and more comfortable to seek approval from the many people in our lives.
Often, however, what others want from us is based on their own values and needs, which don’t always coincide with our inner truths and the goals that we may want to set for ourselves and which would be in our own best interest.
While we may want to listen to the input and the suggestions of others, we must ultimately make the final decisions ourselves and we must then have the strength and the courage to either suffer the consequences or reap the rewards of our choices.

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“Everything starts with yourself—with you
making up your mind about what you are
going to do with your life.”
Tony Dorsett

When we have begun to take charge of our lives,
to own ourselves, there is no longer any need
to ask permission of someone.
George O’Neil