Of course I have heard men that go to church in short sleeves and women with out a head covering are not doing the right thing and I kind of laugh and wonder.
And coming from my religious background, I've been reassessing what is essential vs. what is preference for the last 20 years. Much of it, I'm learning has to do with common practice. In the South, for instance, swearing is looked down on more than in the North.
Where it really makes a difference, though, is when we are seeking approval based on our decisions and actions. Then it becomes almost a matter of life and death. "If I make the wrong decision, they won't love me."
This is how I've felt about my wife. I think this is the reason that I often feel uneasy in making choices for myself. To me, it's a matter of whether someone's going to withhold essential things that I need because of it.
The truth is, no one who matters is going to reject me because of such insignificant things. The people that matter like me for who I am, not what I eat or watch on TV. Even my wife, who CONSTANTLY evaluated every little decision I made, and DID often reject me ostensibly because I didn't choose the fun thing or the cool thing or the "right" thing, was really doing so because HER needs weren't being met.
