Emotional independence is defined as a process in which we learn how to exercise greater control and will-power over our feelings and emotion. How do you achieve that? How do you achieve emotional independence so that you don’t need someone to be something for you? Why do we want people in our lives to behave or be a certain way for us? When it comes down to it, others don’t see what you see, and you don’t know what they see. In my experience, I don’t think you can depend on someone else to give you that fulfillment you’re looking for. You have to rely on yourself.
Also, we don’t always need to depend on external things to provide us with happiness and a sense of well-being. Things like alcohol and drugs, money and fame, shopping, sex, and using social media might make you dependent on them for happiness. I think you can find your independence by spending time on you (self-care), being positive, taking responsibility for your own life, and the more work you do will bring you closer to having that independence, having the power to make choices and then aligning those choices with your needs.
This has been an “aha” realization for me. And I’m at that point in my life where I feel it’s time to turn the page and really look within and find that emotional independence. For me, this doesn’t mean giving up on relationships. It means cultivating relationships so that I am not dependent on them for my happiness. This also releases the other person from feeling they have to be a certain way towards me.
We go through our lives, have our life lessons, and hopefully learn from them. I have said this many times in my posts…I am a work in progress.
(please feel free to comment below)