I hope these thoughts give you something to ponder while you enjoy your morning beverage. As you go about your day, I invite you to take some time to reflect on your observations. Consider if there’s anything you can do to enhance your life, such as looking into the mirror and appreciating yourself. You may also find a way to make the world more beautiful with a simple act of kindness. Perhaps you can hold the door open without expecting a thank you. You may also want to consider if you have a gift to share with the world. Maybe you have some untapped talent you regret wasting, as we sometimes do with unused towels or our good china. I hope you find them enjoyable and return for more tomorrow.
I stopped looking for validation.
I realized I had already found it.
I do not need other people’s validation; I only need mine.
I will say and do what makes me happy because I know I will never harm another.
If my validation for myself harms another, that is because they feel I need their validation to exist.
They are wrong.
Validation
We often seek validation from others when the mere fact that we live is enough validation.
Unfortunately, this need for validation is ingrained in us as children. As children, we like it when people respond to our actions, such as laughing or clapping and telling us how good we are. When the response is positive, we repeat our action to elicit more recognition. There is no way around this, because the adults have to encourage and the children have to interact to grow.
Then we play sports and again are validated with applause. We do well in school and get into college.
We confuse growing and learning with validation, so we seek validation for all other aspects of our lives.
Did anyone like my post? Did anyone laugh at my joke? Did anyone notice my haircut or how skinny I am? We feel as if no one notices us that we do not exist. These are the things that we do not need to be validated for.
Your thoughts, your looks, and your creativity are the things that make you you and the things that we do not need others to acknowledge.
Instead of validating children, encourage them to build strong self-esteem.
Today’s challenge:
Stop looking for validation from outside of yourself.
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