What does Independence mean to you? Independence is a very broad term and is applicable to every possible thing you can think of. Independence is intangible; it cannot be touched but literally speaking, it must be in the air around you all the time and one must be able to feel it.
While we talk about independence, it is very important to understand the value of this word. Independence revolves around us like all the time. When we are at home, while we are in the office, while we are at a restaurant, or when we are driving, or even when we are sleeping. The sense of independence in itself is so beautiful that it makes you feel confident and more productive. An independent person is always more capable, he has to power to make decisions and to judge what's right and wrong.
And for a person to be fully independent, he has to be allowed that independence in all spheres of his life. One cannot say and expect working independently in office but being tied at home. Or maybe free at home or be tied while on a vacation. So independence, if provided, cannot be restricted at times and places.
A person who is not independent loses his sense of decision making and can never complete any task or activity on his own.Even if he does, he will never be sure about the final results, whether the results are good or bad.
Also, as an adult, we need to understand that independence is not something you can nurture in your child or your near and dear ones in any single day; it is something that has to be induced or offered from day one. It is something that must be sensed right from the beginning. If you are keeping someone in shackles and one fine day you open them and expect them to be all independent and wise, that's not going to happen because they get habitual to be in the shackles. When set free, they are unable to make any decisions because they have never done that before. And that results in failures and eventually depression because the other person gets demotivated to see the failures. So independence and freedom have to come from day one so that the person gets equipped with it and knows best how to use it.
One last most important aspect is that when you are given freedom, you ought to respect other people's freedom too. You can't keep a bird in the cage and expect freedom from people around you. If you want freedom, then you should give it to other people too. Let your wives, husbands, children, friends, parents, employees be free. Let them make their own decisions. That is ultimately going to benefit you only because after all you also don't want people to depend on you so much.
If you are not given your share of freedom, you need to break the shackles and fight for it. It is your thing, your right and you must have it.
So friends, be independent, feel the independence and let people around you be free too.