Post 1-Self Reliance

"What I must do, is all that concerns me, not what the people think."

People have this notion that they need to do things in order to be accepted. The want or desire of acceptance is human nature. When all is said and done, however, who do we really have? Ourselves. Therefore, before we go after the acceptance we crave, we must first search for the acceptance within ourselves. We are, who we are, so we need to act on that or we will never be satisfied. Our friends should tolerate who we are, and what we do. The only way to let others into your life is to let yourself in first. Knowing yourself allows you to know others. We should follow our instincts, because they are true to us. When we stop and ask for advise we let others take over our initial thoughts, which in some cases may be good, because getting various perspectives on things is always helpful, but as long as we don't let our intuition go unheard. For the most part, however, acting on impulse is the truest form of action. When we let others' thoughts get in the way of our own, we are far from being self-reliant. "If you would be a man, speak today what you think today... and tomorrow speak what you think in hard words again, though it contradicts everything you said today"(75). Who cares if your thoughts contradict each other, changing your mind is a part of life, a learning process, so don't be afraid to speak your mind and then later to change it. People may smirk and say, "Oh, well, that's not what Alex said yesterday!", but yesterday is in the past. "What I must do is all that concerns me, not what people think." Also, why should it matter if I choose to make a fool of myself? As long as I like who I am, and as long as I accept myself for who I am, the rest will follow. Self-reliance goes hand in hand with self-respect. I should respect my thoughts, purely because they are my own. They are all that I have. Having a good relationship with myself allows me to have good relationships with other people. In other words, in order to befriend other people, I must befriend myself first. I must realize my insecurities, my good qualities and bad ones, my inner most thoughts, and I must realize what I stand for, so that I can carry that out with ease in my daily life. I know that I am a very perceptive person, and that I don't hold grudges. I also know that I forgive too easily, and I get hurt too easily. I'm emotional, but I'm strong. I'm independent, and I know that in the end, I am all that I have.