At what age did you start to think of yourself as a fully autonomous individual?

[InvisibleTouch]

Just out of idle curiosity ... how old were you when you realized you were fully in command of your mental facilities - that you were self-aware and autonomous? I don't mean a general sense of "I like this" and "I want that," or "my name is such-and-such and I'm in first grade" - I mean the time when your mind came fully and clearly into focus - when you could compare your current condition to the past and extrapolate it into the future.

I remember being about 7 and being angry with myself for having been "stupid" a couple of years earlier. It was in the context of having wanted to get or achieve something, and from a year or two down the road it seemed obvious to me that I could have used numerous different options to succeed - but I wasn't "smart" enough to see it at the time. I was very much aware that I had been sort-of "asleep" when I was younger, not fully self-aware or able to think was well as I could at the current time.

Definitely by age 8 or 9 I felt autonomous and felt that I had the ability to plan and work toward specific goals and consider many detailed options - regardless of whether others could understand or agree with them. By age 12 I felt in many ways (not all) like an adult, and definitely by age 14 I felt capable of making adult decisions for myself. And I remember being infuriated by being stuck in a world that still saw me as a child.

[struggle4progress]

1. to judge from what my parents tell me, i considered myself a fully autonomous adult from about age 2

[InvisibleTouch]

2. Ah, but how do YOU remember being at that age? :) n/t

[struggle4progress]

5. oppressed by a conspiracy of dumbfuck grown-ups who didn't appreciate my genius

:shrug:

[Shagbark Hickory]

3. I'll let you know when it happens. nt

[pink-o]

4. I was sure from about 10 that I could live on my own, if only my parents would let me.

Of course, I was totally wrong, childish and idiotic. I did move away from home at 18, but the phenomenon you're talking about didn't really happen to me until I was about 20. I seriously just woke up one morning and realized anything I felt, any action I took, any thought I had in my head was okay, and I'd be all right for the rest of my life.

It's worked out pretty good since then--and I'm a month shy of 57.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. Two. I remember a lot of details specifically.

I remember being very excited when I realized I could think, like I could talk to myself without saying a word.

[InvisibleTouch]

7. Thanks, everyone, for chiming in with your experiences! :) n/t

[Silver Swan]

8. I remember hearing all my young life

that the secret to success, or at least relational success was to, "Be yourself!"

I admit that I had no idea of what my "self" was until I was at least age 24.

But that has little to so with your original question... I remember being a conscious person with choices from age four.

[hyphenate]

9. Oh wait. ...I'm supposed feel that way already?

;)

Seriously, I can't remember, except by the time I was 7, I was a leader. Doing things which today would be considered impossible, I was bright enough to lead a small group of friends about 1 mile away to my aunt's house along the railroad tracks, where my uncle drove us home. It created a bit of a stir at the time, though I can't imagine why. And I was already writing poetry by that time, too. I always was independent minded as well, and by the time I was 8, I was babysitting my younger siblings, and traveling by air on my own.

[Doc_Technical]

10. Around 5 years old.

It looked to me that most people were selfish and
too emotional.
I remember the upset reactions I would get when I
talked to older people so I decided to shut up and
just go along with whatever the people around me
were doing and keep my thoughts to myself.