Can You Really Handle Independence?

Isn't it ironic that countries struggle to be independent from other countries, children struggle to be independent from their parents, even spouses struggle to be independent from each other, yet we all go through pain trying to discover true independence!

A dictionary told me that the word independent means : "not dependent: not subject to control by others : not affiliated with a larger controlling unit : not requiring or relying on something else : not looking to others for one's opinions or for guidance in conduct and not requiring or relying on others as for care or livelihood".

Interesting isn't it? We usually claim to be independent yet most of us cannot act alone. I sit here writing this and anticipating a night out on the town with my friends. The truth is that if they call and cancel, I doubt I'd be going anywhere tonight. I like to think of myself as independent but somehow I wonder if I truly am. I certainly am not under their control like some wind-up toy soldier but I definitely am dependent on their companionship for my enjoyment.

Does this somehow relate to the proposal that we all have some sort of innate compulsion towards dependency? Or is it just that we are naturally rebellious to the fact that we are raised into a culture of dependency. We are dependent on our paychecks to pay bills, we are dependent on our local stores to provide the necessities for our daily living, we are dependent on tomorrow to arrive and bring us a new day. So does this mean that we can never be independent?

Maybe independence is truly just a state of mind. Maybe it is just the joy of feeling that we have total control over some aspect of our lives, even if it is just a very minor and seemingly insignificant part.

Maybe I am dependent. Maybe I do need people and things in my life more than I sometimes think I do. The truth is that I am dependent on my abilities, my intellect, my desires and my goals to keep me from becoming too strongly dependent on someone else!