Self Worth: Why You’ll Never Feel Enough (Until You Stop Seeking Approval)
I often wonder why we so often place more value on what others think of us than how we think about ourselves. How is it that we believe that if someone else likes us or what we do or say, then we must be okay?
In a world where likes are a barometer for whether or not we are showing up in an acceptable way, we try to please, attract and impress as many people as we can and then live in fear that someone won’t approve or respond in the way we had hoped or expected them to.
We’ve gotten so good at dividing ourselves into smaller and smaller pieces that we end up stretched thin, pleasing no one with an empty tank. We compound things further by playing relationship politics, often pretending we are okay when we’re not, and then getting really frustrated or even angry when no one notices how we feel.
We’ve all been there, but at what point did we start to lose our ability to tap into how we factor into the equation and instead multiply the distance between who we really are and how we are showing up? Do the math it doesn’t add up.
We can’t be everything to everybody, but we can be everything to ourselves. In fact, we are the only common denominator, the prime number. Whether we feel like it or not, we are in control.
I know that it seems easier sometimes to go with the flow than to share our own thoughts or ideas or to ask for what we want or need, but I promise you, relying on others to define our worth is a zero-sum game. Never, ever, underestimate how valuable you truly are.
There are more than 7 billion people in the world, most of whom will never know you ever existed, and of the ones that do, how many really know you when you emanate from who you truly are?
It isn’t important that everyone agrees or likes what you say or do. The important thing is that it matters to you.
Everyone will not always like what you have to say, and that’s okay, and if they do, then that’s great too. Either way, you are not defined by the way that they want or expect you to be anymore.
It’ll be messy and imperfect, but it’ll be yours. Life is way too short to try and please everyone.
The best way you can contribute to the world is by showing up for yourself and by saying what you need to say, you give permission to others to do the same.
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