I choose to be submissive because I feel that it's my nature. I enjoy pleasing my man, making him the heartbeat of my life, giving him control. I do have respect for myself because I understand that this is a lifestyle choice for me, and I don't have a need to follow society's norms if I choose not to. That is having a lot of respect for one's personal beliefs and choices isn't it?

I can so very much identify with this. To me this might be the core of all human relations or even beyond that, relations with the entire world and all that is in it. The magic word to me is and always will be respect. Any set of rules, moral codes, laws, can never be anything but artificial, man-made and so, will always be compromises, made to fit entire societies, often with hidden agenda's built in. But societies are made up of individuals, of which not even two are alike. To me personally, even trying to universally impose sets of rules upon living creatures is fundamentally unnatural. To me, we as humans are basically the same as other animals. Nobody needs to tell an animal which is the Alfa-male or female, they just are, or establish themselves as such. So I think trying to figure out why you are a sub or a master/mistress, is no use at all, you just are.
Please be aware, that this is nothing but my own personal opinion, which I feel very strongly about, no doubt, but not meant to offence anyone. Just my humble contribution to a very interesting discussion.