"But I was told by others to do thus." That answer is not one that will save me. My actions are mine alone, my thoughts and beliefs are within my control. The only problem with opening the mind is seeing how wrong I may have been all along. New ideas and new ways of thinking invite new feelings and new behaviors.

The old ways just won't do. The answer that I was told to do it this way only works so long as I remain ignorant, and I cannot reasonably claim ignorance. The actions moving forward are of my own choosing. Thoughts are mine to accept or reject or ignore. I do not have to give credence to something, and I can pretend like it does not exist, because it does not exist outside of my mind.

The realization comes too late that I am the one who observes the thought. Not a mere observer of thought, but the consciousness that experiences this life through this body and mind. The self is organized around the mind and body and external, but this is only partially true. Those things do exist, and they do affect what is separate from the other separate things.

I won't venture to make such bold claims here. It's the moment when life becomes one's own that I can stop living according to what was handed to me. I do as I see fit, but that is not with egomaniacal zeal. It is with patience and presence that decisions are made and situations responded to.

I am always in charge of my own piece. I make my own moves. I can follow the orders or suggestions of another, but it is me that will ultimately be responsible for the outcome. I cannot claim obedience as a defense. I am an individual with a conscious mind to be used for free and discrened thinking.

If a way does not work, I can change. I do not ask the world to change. I change to meet the world.