Validation

We are all creatures of our experiences. Good and bad. They make us who we are and form our views. They create the foundation for which we build our lives and interact with the people we meet along the way. Most of the time we don't even think about the many different steps along our journey that landed us in the spot we are in. We just keep putting one foot in front of the other until we meet our maker. Never really stopping to see what an amazing journey we are all on. There is a great sadness in that. I can't help but think that a life unexamined is a life wasted. I was always taught that God put us here on this planet to grow, to learn. To become a better version of ourselves. How can we hope to accomplish that if we don't study the path that we have traveled? View the mistakes we have made, the harm we have caused. How can we be better without learning where our weaknesses lie? Yet this too is a trap that far too many of us fall into. We obsess on our flaws, and forget to take stock of our strengths. Forget that what we have done right, the people we have helped and the lives we touch in a positive light matter just as much, if not more to some degree. It's human nature to build up the bad and diminish the good. This is not a design flaw in human beings, it is a survival instinct that kept us alive for millions of years. Yet it is one that we no longer need to be enslaved too. We can start to shift our perspective to the good, while not losing sight of the bad. Only in balance can we hope to elevate our understanding, not just of the world around us, but of ourselves. Which just might be more important. Far too often outside forces attempt to shift the focus of our attention. They highlight the bad to diminish our light. To soften the fire that burns inside us, so that their light can be seen more clearly through the dark. This too is a survival instinct, formed in a time when basic necessities of life were scarce. Others build your flame up, so as to take comfort in your strength. That too is a survival instinct and it too is something that needs to be overcome. Validation is only useful when it comes from within. Otherwise it is just another goal we chase after our whole lives and never actually achieve.