just a few minutes into the new day ...
moving from dependence to independence to interdependence...
i suppose we all start out being quite dependent - on our family, our circle of friends, our teachers. no one springs out from the womb fully grown, only athena could have done that.
then from that dependence, it's a step to independence. while learning to be financially and physically independent is difficult, nothing comes close to learning how to think and feel for yourself, and to trust in those thoughts and feelings. and learning to take risks and be courageous, even when you're scared and shivering inside, to take a stand.
but you may find yourself sliding down the slippery spiral into being arrogant, and thinking your way is the best way, and perhaps even the only way to live.
then comes interdependence - realising that we live in communion with each other, that instead of being needy, we nourish and strengthen each other.
i learn, first to be independent.
and one of the milestones is learning i cannot be responsible for another's choices. whether it be as fundamental as moral decisions, or something as trivial as a yogurt flavour. i can advise, support, point out. i can be there for the other.
and no matter how much pain or distress it causes me, especially when it is a moral or lifestyle decision, i cannot choose for another.
at this moment, i am responsible for myself, although in the fullness of time, i will have the strength to love and comfort my fellow men (and women), whom i shall no longer view as the other.
for now, i am still weak, i stumble. but i stumble forward, sometimes catching glimpses of the truth that we are truly connected to one another.
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