what do you care what other people think?

thats the title of a book by Mr. Feynman (there that shows how much i care about him, i actually took the trouble to capitalize the first letters! ), but seriously, what do you care? do you care?

i hear all sorts of people telling each other "oh! i don't care what other people think." aksar vo kehten hain vo bas mere hain, aksar kyon kehte hain, hairat hoti hai. :D

its like they are trying so hard to convince themselves. i know because i was one of those people, i am not, anymore. i aceept that i do care about what other people think. and i feel the accpetance empowers me, not them. by accepting their power, i take away a part of it. i care about what they think, but i am not going to let them dissuade me from my chosen path, i am still going to do what i think i must do, but i will still regret that they do not understand, some more than others, based on how much i care about them, what they mean to me.

some of them, i wish i could make them think differently, but i do not control their thoughts, i cannot even control my own feelings of hurt, but i can control my reactions to that hurt and if i cannot then i will die trying.