Self trust and self reliance

So I found my passion, You probably have as well. Congratulations! I hope it is smooth sailing from here on out. Whether it is body building or music lessons, as long as YOU love doing it, I am happy for you.

For a lot of us, specially the younger Nofappers taking on these big challenges, we will be met with even more struggle. Let me elaborate: I finally had what I wanted to do in mind, I was feeling pretty good about myself and I wanted to share it with someone. Who better than your own family!

I was sitting there thinking and eating some tomato soup with my parents, and I had an itch to tell them what I wanted to focus on in life. I had already told them about the different things I wanted to do before, and despite them telling me on the spot that they fully endorsed me, they would talk amongst themselves that I was wasting my time, that my decisions were stupid, so on so forth. It's the same story every time, I was always treated like I didn't know what I was doing and that their will was superior to mines.

This conditioned me to become dependent on their "will" and now I find myself at 21 barely figuring out my own purpose (will) and barely leaving the nest if you will (still live at home). What's done is done, and I believe that one must forgive and accept reality. What you accept you can work on, what you deny you will keep messing up on and perpetuating a cycle that will only end until you accept it.

You may be the exact same way as me, or worse or a bit better off. Your parents would physically abuse you or mentally put you down. This has adverse effects on your self esteem and your confidence. But worry not, you want to be self reliant and have confidence in yourself? You're about to get your power back and end years of tyranny that kept you prisoner for so long.

It would be nice to share these goals and plans with my parents if they would only listen and accept without shooting me down. I wish I had it differently, but it's made me stronger and I am able to share this with you so you can avoid much headache and heartache that I unfortunately went through.

You still have that passion? Don't let go of that list. In fact, go for it, do every single thing in that list and then more. Obviously have a plan on how to achieve these goals, but when you do and you believe and fuel yourself to do these things, you'll feel accomplished and you'll surround yourself with people just like you who also followed their passion.

It all starts with you, trusting yourself and trusting your judgement. You will go through this phase every time you start a new passion, but self trust and self reliance grows with each time you do a new thing until you eventually excel at it, and you don't need the approval of ANYONE but your heart's. Liberate yourself and be happy with your own decisions, this grows your self esteem and your confidence and guess what? If you're happy and fulfilled, which are your parent's goals but they approach in an unhealthy way, They will grow respect and trust in you for just trusting yourself. Happiness is contagious, so produce a lot of it with your passions and hobbies. If you're doubtful of pursuing something because it may displease your parents/significant other, do it because your heart tells you to and since these people care about you they will cheer you on.

If these people retract their affection and they try to stop you from your passion, they are not worthy to have such a driven and happy person as yourself. Trust yourself and rely only on yourself, it'll grow and you'll be able to teach others these same values and help others be happy and grow in the process.