"Be on your own". Sounds fancy and challenging. But as we live our lives day by day and year by year; the fanciness fades away to leave us with some enlightenment. Independence in some sense is highly over rated, over-chased and in almost all cases, considered as the most important aspect of survival. Under the challenge of survival, co-dependency is looked down upon. A support system is considered as weakness and complete control of all your needs is treated with supreme regard.

However, if we look at chapters of highly successful people, their independent thinking is severely influenced by those they move with every day. Thoughts, opinions, philosophies are clearly a product of lives co-existing with ours. Madam Marie Curie's experiments would have yielded less results if not for her collaboration with Pierre Curie. Similarly, Sachin Tendulkar's performance is indirectly dependent on the wellness of his family.

We all have needs in various ways. Some of us need to be emotionally stabilized, some financially and some egotistically. To lead a happy life, all three factors need to be taken care of. And we draw our fulfillment through our deeds and from those we depend on.  Hence, it's foolish to believe that one can be independent in an absolute sense. Of course, if one does not want to be happy, they can be independent, aloof and in misery if that suits them.

However, to be productive and progressive, most of us very clearly depend on someone for fulfillment. We need to laugh as well as cry. We need to win as well as lose. We need to be generous as well as understand greed. We need to be noble and selfish. We need to desire as well as surrender. And we would be lying if we can experience all of it all by ourselves.

-- I have found more freedom in learning that I can never be independent.