If you ask me what I think, I'm happy to tell you. I have plenty of random thoughts that are currently unused. If you want my advice, I can give you some tips based on the experiences I've had. If you act on my words and things go awry, don't come to my doorstep and blame me for what you did. If you act on my words and the outcome is fabulous, don't send me flowers and a card expressing your thanks.

Last Tuesday, I told you that you looked nice in black. I did not tell you to cut off your hair and dye the remainder black, but for the sake of this argument, let's pretend I did demand that you cut your hair and dye it black. What makes you think you have to do what I tell you to? I am not your parent, leader or guardian.

The blood pools under my eye, but it does not flow freely. Soon, it will be dark shades of purple and red. You said I shouldn't have made you mad enough to punch me. I should have acted like a proper woman and done the things you expected me to. You were crying the day before I left, and you promised you'd never hit me again, as long as I didn't give you any reasons to. No matter how angry you were with me, I did not make you angry. It was your choice to become angry and it was you who decided to resort to violence as a means of expressing your anger.

For almost thirty years, he drank himself to sleep. He said it was because his wife always nagged him and wouldn't give him any peace. Every night he sat in his chair with a bottle by his side. The neighbors shook their heads every time his wife checked the mail. They thought so poorly of her for driving a good man to drink himself to death. She didn't go to his funeral because to her he'd already been dead for thirty years.

It is not my job to make you happy. Misery is there for the taking and I did not guide you to it and force you to swallow it whole. You are the master of your own domain and are responsible for every thought and feeling you have. You can decide how you want to react to the things in your life. If you take action based on anything other than your own will, you are still responsible for that action.

If you ask me what I think, I'm happy to tell you. I have plenty of random thoughts that are currently unused.

Learn more about this author, S.E. Whitbeck.
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