July 4, 2008

My Declaration of Independence

I'm now officially free to let other people respond to me the way they want to, and it doesn't need to affect how I feel about myself. I'm free to let other people love me in their own way, in their own time, without me taking anything personally. I'm free to let myself make mistakes in the ways that I communicate my feelings, because I am free to be misunderstood. I am free to not be liked by everyone around me. I'm free to allow the love of God and those who know me well, actually be enough to get me through today. I'm free to not be entangled by the quest for acceptance from strangers, no matter how good looking they might be. I'm free to be optimistic about the future, even if my present circumstances appear stagnant, knowing that the only thing that's certain in life is change. Still, I'm free to not be ruled by the allure of "what might happen" in the future, because I am choosing to focus on the beauty of the present. I'm free to be surprised by what might come my way, because I'm entering into today without any expectations.

This is my declaration of independence.

1 comment:

Eric Sidler said...

This is really great, Mark. You really have a wonderful gift for expressing deep feelings in words. I admire that a lot.