Ever heard of the whole "the world doesn't owe you a thing" mantra? As in, you gotta make it on your own, because no one owes you any favours in this world thing. Weeeelll, recently I had a realisation that by the very same token of that mantra, I also don't owe anyone anything.
Is that a bold statement? Perhaps.
Of course, we've got to be wary of the feelings of others. We've gotta be considerate and patient of those around us, for sure. But their feelings, or rather, the things that have formed their default feelings to certain situations, shouldn't dictate the way we act. I'm still in the process of working all this out myself, actually, so you could say this is a realisation in the workings, hah... but recently I've tried to do things which please myself, rather than those around me. Don't feel like checking my Facebook even if I know there are messages waiting for me? It's okay, don't check it. to name a simple example.
Life is really too short to do everything by others' books -- something I never thought I was actually doing -- but really, I was unconsciously doing it. Time to build a playbook of my own, I reckon.