As those of you who have been following my blog know, I have slowly been working on different aspects of myself these past few months.
As I was getting to the final few items (we’ll see if this prediction holds any truth, won’t we), I got stuck.
I had identified and internalized most of those “things” that I had previously externalized, projected, or required from others and the outside world, but the one thing I couldn’t internalize was the need to be appreciated by others.
When I shared this with my therapist, she helped me realize that needing someone to acknowledge my existence was NEED I MADE UP. Somewhere along the way, I told myself, “I need people to appreciate me,” probably due to my own lower self esteem.
However, I grew in my self-esteem, and kept this old internal need, without even realizing that I had made it up myself! The neat thing was that once I realized it was a need I made up, the entire need went away, and I was able to be at peace with myself without anyone appreciating me. (Of course, it is nice when they do, but I certainly don’t need it!)
So ask yourself what you “need” in life, then ask yourself, is it a real need, or something you made up. The less “needs” we have the happier we will be, so by relaxing old needs, we can improve our own internal happiness.