“Identify which of your needs you made up.”

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.

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