To be dependent means to have needs that you cannot meet yourself, through your own actions. To be independent (or autonomous) means to be capable of meeting your own needs. Dependency and independence are two sides of the same coin. It is not possible to be entirely dependent in life, and neither is it possible to be entirely independent.

In life, the problem is not to eradicate dependency and become ultimately independent and self-sufficient, but rather to understand the difference between healthy, normal dependency that must be accepted as a condition of being alive, and unhealthy forms of dependency that could stand correction. Finding the proper balance between dependency and independence in life is what leads to fulfillment.