My Journey to Independence!

My Journey to Independence! It's no surprise to my family or friends that I'm an incredibly independent woman. Perhaps it stems from being put up for adoption at birth. I must've had an unconscious thought in the first few hours of life that I was going to survive whatever came my way. Fortunately for me, my mother couldn't live with her decision and came back for me within a month. It was her love and determination that became the model for my path to independence.

I have no regrets or resentment about my dysfunctional childhood. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, which certainly rings true for me. What I do regret is being a willing participant to some events that happened along the way. For reasons unknown to me at the time, I spent a good portion of my 20's & 30's trying to please others. Being a natural peacemaker, I applied countless Band-Aids to surface wounds and sutures to open gaping ones. The needs of others always came first. And sadly, I failed to notice that I had a few oozing wounds that needed attention too.

While I've always felt like a wise old soul, I wasn't able to articulate my thoughts or feelings very well. Writing them down in a journal seemed an even more daunting task. Then one day, enlightenment arrived as gift on my doorstep in the form of a neatly wrapped package, with a single question posed inside... 'Why?' I never gave the question much thought in my younger years. Doing so, would've meant that I had to reach deep within the depths of my soul... and frankly, who wants to go there?! It can be revealing and painful. Vulnerability is not a place I like to visit often, although it's a place of purpose, and our journey often leads us down a windy path where there are many forks in the road and plenty of U-turns.

My mother didn't live long enough to warn me about some of the roadblocks I might encounter along the way. There were no flashing red lights to cue me either. I'm grateful for my ole' friend, Intuition, who's accompanied me in my journey. Now that I'm older, I listen to that friend more often. And as a result, the payoff has been... less wounds and more healing. Less battles and more freedom. Less heartache and more love. Less wrong turns and more beautiful paths.

Oh, how I wish I could share my journey to independence with my mom today. I can just picture her with a huge smile on her face. She'd be so proud, knowing that she had something to do with the path I've taken. It's been a glorious journey of love and laughter with very little regret. On this beautiful day, it's only fitting to say, Thanks Mom, you're still the inspiration to my journey to independence!

Happy Independence Day!