Myth Busting - I have to do it all on my own

“I don’t need you. I can do it on my own.”
Our culture often treats this as a sign of strength — particularly for men. Independence becomes maturity; needing other people becomes weakness.
But there is an enormous difference between being capable of standing on your own feet and pretending you don’t need anyone.
Healthy human beings are relational beings.
We need other people not because we are defective, but because relationship is one of the primary ways human beings grow, heal, learn and flourish. Even going to a doctor, therapist, teacher or friend involves allowing another human being into our experience.
The goal, then, is not dependence.
Nor is it fierce independence.
It is interdependence: I can stand on my own feet, and I can also reach for you. I can receive as well as give. I can need you without making you responsible for my existence.
Perhaps one of the great developmental tasks of relationship is learning that needing another person does not diminish us.
Sometimes it is precisely what brings us back into connection.