Week 9

Have You Developed a Strong Sense of Independence?

Everyone wants to say that they are independent. In our society relying on others makes us seem weak and we don't like to be perceived that way. However, a lot of the time we tend to see things in black or white. Just because you relying on other people does not make you weak. It is all about the extent to which you base your reliance. None of us can do anything completely on our own. So yes, we all do need to rely on people. You can look to others for assistance and still be an independent person. If you didn't look to other people then your judgment would be questionable. You need to see things from alternative viewpoints and you need to ask others for their opinions. I know that sometimes I am so certain about something, but then when someone explains it to me another way I realize how wrong I am. I'm not saying that you shouldn't be confident in yourself and your ideas, what I'm saying is that you should be confident enough to share them with someone else. You shouldn't be afraid of taking a risk and hearing what other people have to say because constructive criticism helps not hurts.



I was just thinking about independence because my significant other is in Baltimore right now studying for a medical program. Until he left I did not realize how reliant I was on him. He does so much for me but I couldn't appreciate that until he left. He has shown me so much but now that he is away I've really been able to be independent and prove that I can do things on my own (like fixing fence boards)! In a way I did things a bit backwards. I looked for someone's help and then tried to do things on my own once he was gone. So I'm writing this to tell you that you don't need to do that! If you have an idea of how something should be done and your trying is not going to harm anyone or anything then you should absolutely try. If you need guidance then ask for it, but I never really learned how to do things myself until I didn't have someone looking over my shoulder ready to take over.

So assert your independence! Don't forget to ask others for help but also don't think that you aren't a capable individual.