When is it time that we start to make decisions based off what we want and what we feel rather than what someone else might think of us?

It is an ongoing battle that everyone deals with, maybe some more than others. We're human. We want to feel accepted and loved by the people we surround ourselves with. As we grow up, we are taught to let our parents take care of us and make decisions for us. Then suddenly you become an adult, and now you have to make all of your own decisions and that can be overwhelming and confusing.

When you look to the people around you to approve your decisions, what do you look for? Do you truly value their opinion? Or are you just looking for someone else to make choices for you so you can blame them if there's potential of something going wrong?

I believe that we do not trust ourselves because we are so often reminded that we can not. We are constantly bombarded with thoughts or feelings of not being good enough, sweet enough, pretty enough, and the worst of them all... successful enough.

We do not have enough self-trust. I know that I don't. Self-confidence is not the same as self-trust.

I don't know anyone that can make a decision without some type of doubt in their mind, even if it's small and hidden in the way back. Every decision we make deeply affects our lives whether it's sooner or later. That is when you dig deep and stand by what you believe and trust yourself to make the best decision you possibly can.

I know the feeling of needing approval from others, wanting to be reassured, and wanting to make others happy. I also know the feeling of not doing what I want, not being happy with my decisions, and regretting a choice I made based off of someone else. You can love someone and not always take their opinion into your decisions. I know that sounds crazy and that it is a very fine line there that can be blurry. If you do not speak up your wants and needs, you let other people's wants and needs dictate your life.

The number one sign I know I am allowing others to make decisions for me is when I am mentally exhausted from social interactions. If hanging out with your friend, or that coworker that you sorta kinda like then maybe you need to think of yourself a little more. Are you nervous they might be "mad" at you?

If the people around you respect your mental stability and life choices, they will uplift you and nourish you, not make you feel drained and tired. Who cares if you lose that one friend you met in college, if they don't make your life better, then they are out. If

If you continue this pattern, one day you will wake up and realize that you are not living your own life. You are living your parent's life, significant other's life, neighbor's life, whoever's life.