Thinking For Myself

"No doubt another may also think for me; but it is not therefore desirable that he should do so to the exclusion of my thinking for myself." --Henry David Thoreau

I got this quote in an email this evening, it got me to thinking. Thinking for myself, can I do that? Is that possible? I want to think for myself,. Recently, I have been analyzing how I have given my authority away. I have given it away for so long, that I thought I lost it. Many of the people in my life have done it, maybe without realizing that they have. Letting others think for themselves is a challenge, when you have a family of strong women and men in your life, who have major opinions on a lot of subjects that do not mesh, it is a struggle. Mainly, lately, I have been concentrating solely on one thing in my life, whether or not a certain person is a friend or what he is. That is stupid, it is causing me problems, Whether or not he is a friend, I do not need to dwell on it anymore. I cannot waste my brain cells on this issue anymore. I have more important things to think about. I have been given a gift , a second chance with my future, my life. I screwed it up last time, and I do not plan on doing it again. I have to make plans, I have to follow through with my plans, and I have to think about what it is I truly want, and not what others think I should want, do, believe, go for, or accomplish. This is my gift, this is something that I worked for, this is something that deserve. I am valuable, I am pretty, I am smart, I am intelligent, I have grace, I have talent, I have beauty, I have spirit, I have passion, and I most definitely have ambition. All these things were taken from me from an early age, and I am reclaiming them, these are my gifts, these are my talismans. I have to respect myself and I hope that others will follow in this pursuit, and respect me also. The road that I am on now, is clearer, the debris is not so thick, it isn’t causing me to shutter with every whack that I make. I am feeling more confident, at peace with what I must do, and I am on my way to making the plans, the steps, and the accomplishments that I must make for myself. I have experienced a heartache, I have experienced the anger, now I must use the anger, that heartache and make the recovery to the Jamie that will bust out of the cocoon that was made for her and fly away. My wings are growing faster daily, soon I will be off with my map, compass, and machete, and mark my course more deliberately. I know I have many people in my life who are cheering me on, and I hope that they know I am cheering them on with their journey’s. WE are all a family. I love them all.