I think I'm back in the saddle of My Own Personal Journey, and out of everyone else's saddle. If there's one thing I learned in 2003, it's that people LOVE to give advice (myself included). If you ever want to hear someone's life story, just ask, "What should I do about...(insert problem at hand...relationships, jobs, taxes, etc.)?"

Not to blame anyone. I love giving advice (though it's frequently comes out of my own anger). However, it isn't anyone's fault that advice from another affects me like a torrential downpour hurricane on a shantytown. I think I made it out of childhood without a certain psychic protective shield that keeps other people's opinions away from my solar plexus (or in other words, without boundaries). Hence, the need to argue with my therapist about why I choose not to date on the Internet, or with multiple vegans/vegetarians, about why I choose to eat meat, or with PC users about why I own a Mac, or with my mom about why it's OK to send more than $20 an any item of clothing. It never, ever, ever, ever occurs to me that it's no one else's business how I live my life. And while intellectually, I may get that right now, surely when my neighbor suggests that I paint my living room coffee, I will fall into a temporary spell, wonder if I need to "set a boundary" by telling her that I'm not in a place to accept her color suggestions, and then decide to pray, meditate, and after avoiding her in the hall for a few weeks...forget the episode ever happened.

Just for today, it's OK to let people have their own opinions...I think.