I agree, it is possible to be your own person without letting others or society influence you, in fact that's one of the many things my mom told us as children over n over until.it sank in

As to the Muslim v Christian example given by Elsa (the one you responded to), there are Christian people who live in those countries, but are forced to remain quiet about it due to the very real possibility of being shot or beheaded for their beliefs. Many people go with societal norms not because society "forces" it on them, (How can you technically force anyone to do anything unless you are physically manipulating them? All you can do at worst is threaten or kill them for doing something different.) but because they are afraid of "standing out" and being "different" and possibly being picked on, ridiculed, threatened, beat up, or worse. I am proud of you Darkness, because you don't give in to those fears. It isn't bad to listen to and consider advice though, but that doesn't mean you have to take it if you don't want to. As to some who think I would not have gotten married had I known I would lose my insurance premium help, I would still have gotten married but would have first designed a plan to prepare for that. You and I are a bit alike in that manner, Darkness, we don't truly care what others think. The difference is you take that notion to more of an extreme than I and to be honest, I am not sure if that's good or bad because sometimes I get hurt from letting ppl get to me but I see you sometimes hurt bc you don't let ppl close enough. I'm not sure what the middle ground is, or if there is one. I do believe we are right in one thing: remaining true to ourselves and don't let others get in the way of that.

Please don't take any of what I said wrong. I was agreeing with you, commending you, and offering up a bit of information both from my experiences and knowledge, none of which was meant to criticize or insult in any way.