“(n.) Freedom from
outside control or support”
Being three thousand miles away
from anything that feels truly familiar has taught me a lot about independence.
Independence for me personally has manifested itself in the form of spending
time surrounded by people, but being completely alone at the same time. It’s
extremely difficult to be physically alone in a city with millions of people
visiting each day; that being said, independence has come to me in a sort of
state of mind. The sort of thinking that allows me to feel completely
comfortable navigating the city on my own with no second thoughts.
It is natural human instinct to
take care of yourself first, regarding things like safety and comfort, and once
you begin to travel, and build up your independence those things are always in
the back of your mind, you don’t tend to think about them, you just implement
the necessary steps to ensure your own comforts during your travels. Once this
happens, the newly independent portion of your brain will begin to think, “I
don’t need to rely on my friends to go with me…” (Wherever it is you want to
go) and in no way am I saying that you’d have a better time if you went alone,
but if you really do want to go wherever it is, then you’ll go and enjoy it
yourself. You don’t ever have to depend on someone else to have a good time, it
is always up to you.
In addition to this new
mentality you achieve when you begin to travel off on your own, you also get
this feeling of not being afraid to be alone. Right at this very moment, I am
sat completely on my own at a table in a largely busy café, with absolutely no
complaints. Sometimes being independent enough to go off and do things on your
own gives you time to reflect on what you’re actually doing. I know from
experience that too much time definitely causes over analyzing and critical
thinking which is not the healthiest, but most of the time, having a bit of
time to reflect on what you are doing gives you a sense of accomplishment, or
self-renewal. You can find insights to your own personality that can help you
greatly.
DISCLAIMER: anyone who knows me,
knows I am a huge fan of “alone time” or in other words I am 100% not afraid to
spend an entire day by myself, however having friends and spending time with
people is good, and of you don’t do it, you’ll actually go crazy. So tip #1: be
independent wisely people.
Independence is not all about
being alone, and conquering things all on your own, it is also about having
your own opinions and brain. Thinking for yourself is a very important part of
being independent, and arguably one of the best qualities someone can have.
Let’s face it, what is life without a little bit of an intellectual challenge,
being agreeable all the time is boring, and make people think that you either
live under a rock and know nothing, or you have no real thinking power about
you and know nothing. Here’s tip #2, stop making yourself look like you know
nothing, you have your independent brain, so use it.
I suppose my main point for this
post is to try and explain that sometimes the best things happen when you’re independent,
you meet new people, and go new places because there isn’t anyone holding you
back. Along with this post I’ve included a few photos that I took, while
exploring out on my own, to show you that regardless of the company you’re with
there is an amazing world around you that you’ll miss out on if you’re always
waiting around for someone to go with you.
Cheers!
xoxo
No comments:
Post a Comment