I am my own person

In my childhood,

I was a good little girl

~relatively speaking~

with only just a shade of mischief in me.

Something somewhere happened along the way

to give me the courage to speak my mind

to voice my opinions

and to say no

for no apparent reason

except

just because I can.

Time is precious

and I prefer to use it as effectively as I can.

So, when I walk out of a meeting because I dont think it is relevant to me,

why am I in the wrong?

Political bickering fails to hold my interest.

Rather than following their threads of argument on television,

I much prefer to spend that time doing something I enjoy.

So why does that award me the labels of

ignorant and self absorbed?

In a room full of veiled women,

yesterday afternoon,

I was the lone female without my hair covered.

It's my body, my preference for either exposure or covering it up should be mine.

But being the odd one out,

I am headstrong, defiant and lacking-in-faith.

Can't I say what I think?

Don't I have a mind of my own?

Do I need to simply follow the crowd?

Not me.

I am my own person.