Independence

what does it mean to me

I recently came across a really neat blog on MySpace. It is called the Group Blogging Experience (GBE) and each week the facilitator of this group post a general word or two and then everyone has until the end of week to blog about that word, your interpretation, whatever it means to them.

It is a pretty cool deal and I have had a lot of fun reading my friend Roxy's GBE blogs. Anyone can join this group and can blog about it as long as they have a public profile so that she can post all the blogs and everyone can read what others have written. But, I am not ABOUT to set my profile to public, so I figured I could write about it anyway and post it on Blogger and Myspace on my own. If you all are interested in doing this as well, just let me know and maybe we could start our own GBE right here on Blogger (Of course we could change the name and come up with our own words if we wanted). :)

So, anyway... the topic this week is Independence (next week will be an off week for the facilitator, so maybe we can come up with our own next week).

So, here's my first shot at a GBE Topic - Independence.

My dad always says, "YOU are the most important. You have to look after, and care for, YOURSELF above anything else. Do what is best for YOU!"

This phrase has been with me ever since the first time my dad said it to me when I went off to college. I have never forgotten this phrase over the years, although I have had to remind myself (or others have had to remind me) of this phrase's importance. To me, that phrase is what independence means, both in the historic-American sense of the word and the personal sense of the word.

Independence is a liberating thing. When I graduated college, when I bought my first home and when I landed my first REAL job, I felt the true feelings of success and independence fill my heart. I was proud of myself. I was proud of myself because I did those things because they were what was BEST for me and I did them, mostly, on my own.

Being married close to a year now, I have learned that the independence I had as an unmarried woman is slightly different now. It went from "what is best for me" to "what is best for us". While it is still a feeling of independence, it is difficult to grasp sometimes. Now, I ask myself, "what will JARED think about this? What should WE do? What if HE doesn't want to do what I want to do? Then, the word independence turns into cooperation, trust and compromise.

Jared and I came together as husband and wife and made a decision to move to Indiana because we felt like it was what was "best for us" at the time. We made a decision to have a fun and easy wedding in Las Vegas because it is what we thought was "best for us". Do we always see eye to eye? Heck no. But we are slowly learning the independence, cooperation and compromise of being married.

This is also true when you look at the independence of our great nation. The Declaration of Independence was written because it is what our ancestors felt was "best for them". They went to war with Great Britain to fight for independence because its what they felt was "best for them", despite the terror and loss of lives involved. They knew they were fighting for more than just a piece of land. They were fighting for respect, they were fighting for dignity, they were fighting freedom of religion and freedom of speech and they were fighting because they knew it was what was right for them.


And because they did fight for what was best for them, we are all here today to blog about it and compromise with our spouses. What a country we live in! :)


Happy Independence Day everyone!