Stay Focused

It's hard to stay focused on one's relationship when one is constantly getting the opinions of other (warranted or not, sought out or not).

I like to think that I am a pretty level headed woman, not given to acting irrationally or not taking valid, relevant advice to heart. That said, I feel like everyone has an opinion on my current relationship. Well not everyone, just a couple of people, but it's like..."Who asked you anyway?" I take my sister's advice seriously because she is my sister and she knows me better than anyone else, and I take my mom's advice seriously because she's my mom...wise and seasoned. There are a couple of others that I consider deeply, but on the whole if I want an opinion on something, I will seek it out (different people have greater knowledge of one subject over another).

I feel like some of these opinions I'm receiving are coming out of jealousy. Some friends that have always had boyfriends but are now single are being feisty because I am spending a lot of time with the new beau. Who cares? I'm not, not spending time with them, and when they have had boyfriends they are more MIA than I am currently. That sort of opinion I don't take seriously.

Then there are those who "don't want you to make the same mistake I did." Well guess what? I'm not living my life for you. The way most people learn and how many great discoveries are made is through mistakes. Not that I'm seeking them out, but let me make my own. I'm more rational than most women my age, and way more cautious (for better or worse), and I'm tired of living life in a bell jar so as to protect myself from potential things that may or may not even happen to me. We get one life on this planet, and I think it's very important that we live it to the fullest trying to experience all that it has to offer (not to a ridiculous extreme, but live a little, right). I appreciate that people are concerned but advise me because you are sincerely worried about me, not because you are jealous or don't want me to mess up like you did, that's not what a REAL friend would do.