by Casie Dempsey

Created on: February 15, 2007   Last Updated: January 16, 2009

When we are young, it is automatically assumed that the our parents are the controllers of everything that happens in life. In fact, the mere idea of choosing clothes or sleeping in our own beds seems almost as if they are impossible feats that we somehow must conquer and become something more powerful...teenagers.

It seems as if every day, we see movies or even those closest to us, where the parent does not like the person that their son/daughter has chosen to be in their lives. Whether we have made yet another mistake in life that we are now going to have to work through and come out (yet again, as we have learned time and time again that mistakes help the learning process called life) a stronger person...none of it really matters. We must take these lessons and learn to move forward. If we do not struggle, we do not learn.

When I was around 20 years old, I chose to date someone that was all wrong for me. In my head, I truly thought that opposites attract and that this was going to be the guy for me...but for some reason, my entire family hated him. If you think that it is tough when your parents don't like someone; try having grandparents, aunts, and even random friends of the family telling you how this person is not right for you. In fact, I was so disheartened by the fact that they were 'obviously' being unreasonable about the entire situation, that I never took the time to notice how controlled that I had become and that perhaps they were right after all.

A year later, after a broken nose, concussion, and bruises which covered my entire body, added in with my new fear of being alone at any moment during the day, I knew for myself that they were right all along. I, however, was too stubborn to ever admit to this.

Sometimes it is easy to say to ourselves that maybe we were wrong from the very beginning, and that perhaps we should have just sat back and listened to everyone else, but to be completely honest to family and even ourselves, we have to realize something more important than that. This is my life, and even though things don't turn out the way that we plan, no one is perfect...no one makes correct decisions about everything...it is MY CHOICE to be whoever I want.

Through the pain and heartache, it truly does not matter if the people around us do not agree with our choices. We must at some point in our adult lives all face the truth of loss, of love, and of our own mistakes. Without these, we shall never be whole.

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