This is the moment when you become the captain of your own life.

This is the moment when you decide to be the captain of your dreams. This is the moment you wish yourself the strength to make this a habit.

May you have the courage and confidence to make choices, big and small, impulsively, irrationally, honestly, loyally. Decisions you made based on the way you were woken up in the morning, or the smell of the last almost clean T-shirt you have left. Maybe because it was rainy and you were wet. Or your coffee was terrible. Because somebody forgot to return your smile, because you remembered that moment you’d never forget, the one when you just couldn’t quit smiling and your cheeks were burning. Or you simply listened to your gut feeling, longing not for a place but for a feeling, a state of mind, that place you call happiness, where you are finally content.
May you take charge of your own life; let go of the need to please and the need to do what others expect from you. Say no to a friend, ditch a plan that was never right for you. Stop explaining, and no need to apologize.
May you smile to your reflection in the mirror, and be grateful for yourself and your wonderful company.
May you allow love to guide you to your next destination, near and far.

—I would like to say that I wrote these words. But they were written by my daughter, Libby Singer.

Smile to your reflection in the mirror, and be grateful for yourself and your wonderful company.

And just to remind us how free we are to make choices and live our own lives, here are two articles about women around the world.

Read here about the Islamic militants in Nigeria who kidnapped 200 girls.

Read here about the 11-year-old girl in Pakistan who was forced to marry a man to settle a crime her uncle had committed.