Originally Posted by CatsPajamas

This one was HUGE HUGE HUGE for me, as I was raised in the "what will the neighbors think" mentality. My mother's primary concern was what other people thought. It was the driving force in all decisions and thoughts.

It took me a long time to understand that, and longer still to break the cycle. I had to make conscious choices to NOT care what other people thought and to do what I thought was right for me and my children in a given situation. At first it was incredibly scary and difficult to do -and now, thankfully, it's just how I think. Today I can honestly say that I don't really care what other people think. That's on them, not on me.

It only took me about 20 years to get that...