Michelle, the young poetess, states boldly,

My happiness is me, not you. Not only because you may be temporary, but also because you want me to be what I am not.

I cannot be happy when I change merely to satisfy your selfishness nor can I feel content when you criticize me for not thinking your thoughts, for not seeing like you.

You call me a rebel, yet for each time I have rejected your beliefs, you have rebelled against mine.

I do not try to mold your mind. I know you are trying hard enough to be just you and I cannot allow you to tell me what to be, for I am concentrating on being me.

You said I was transparent and easily forgotten but why then did you try to use my lifetime to prove to yourself what you are?

“Indeed, we are our own happiness and each time we have strayed from ourselves we have been led to despair. We cannot find ourselves in others. We cannot live for others nor can we use them for our own self-affirmation. We cannot always be what others want us to be, for what they want may not be what we are and that is all that we have. We can only rely upon ourselves. This is such a simple fact, yet it is perhaps the greatest single cause of human psychological struggle and pain. It is often easier to become what others desire but in so doing we relinquish our dreams, abandon our hopes and ignore our needs. This leaves one feeling abandoned, weakened and impotent, without a genuine self.”
~ Leo Buscaglia