Too often I hear people talk about being independent. But there is no such thing as independent in this life. Everything we do, even eating an apple, is interdependent. The same is true of our country! We celebrate Independence Day because it is the day we gained our independence from England but we are not an independent country. We are interdependent.
Everything we do in this life, is a part of many people coming together to make it happen. Let’s look at eating an apple. It took the farmer, the labor on the farm, the truck driver who took the apples to the packing place, all the workers in the packing place, then another driver, etc. Finally it is in your hand ready to be eaten. But you depend on hundreds of people to do their part for you to have that wonderful juicy apple.
There is a level of gratitude that is missed if we do not acknowledge all the people it takes for us to enjoy our lives or, in this case, a tasty apple! Each of our days are fraught with multiple tasks and events and each and every one of them takes a herd of people to make it happen. There is a critical interdependence that allows us to enjoy this freedom and this expression in life.
To say we are independent is eliminating all the unity that exists. You may feel that you broke away from some dependent position you were in and now you feel more independent from that “overseer”, but that is not being independent in life. That is being independent from a situation that made you more dependent in some way(s). Now you are free of that. You are independent from that.
People like to think they are independent when they can afford their own lifestyle. They are not. They are self-sufficient. Nothing about our self-sufficient lifestyle is a truly independent existence. Self-sufficiency allows us to see that we are taking care of our lives on our own. That is a very powerful awareness! It allows you to honor your achievements and successes. To say we are independent does not allow for us to feel the way we hire others to make our lives better, e.g., housekeepers and pool cleaners, etc. That is a wonderful part of success, hiring others to make our lives more simple.
No matter where we are in our life and careers, we are in an interdependent relationship with life and others. In that interdependence, we can find success, happiness, and self-sufficiency (if we choose). So, let’s all become more aware of the many others who allow our life to be grand. Let’s open up our interdependence and be grateful for all who and that allow us to experience all that we are in this life.
Interdependence. We could call it interdependance, a dance between each other perse. 😀 Thanks for these eye opening words!
Comment by Holly G —