AFFIRMATION is having a HUGE IMPACT on Our Lives.
While pondering life the other day, I got stuck on the word “Affirmation” and the impact it’s currently having on each of our lives. The impact is real and is played out every day in several different areas of every person’s life. In fact, if you think about it, affirmation appears to be something each of us craves more than anything else. More than money, more than power, more than respect, and more than success. If we can just get at least one other person to approve of, and thus affirm, something we said, did, believe, profess, or the way we think, then we can utilize that affirmation to continue on.
I’ve come to define affirmation as “craving the approval of others” and to be honest, social media has provided the perfect vehicle to seek and find that approval no matter what you think, say, or do. Post anything you want, be it beautiful or horrible, and you’re sure to get at least one other person that will affirm the post with a supportive comment or clicking the “like” thumbs up to satisfy, at least temporarily, the affirmation craving that inspired the post.
As I continued pursuing a thought process surrounding affirmation, I began to wonder how craving the approval of others impacted our personal mental health. I began to wonder if seeking approval from others was impacting our inherent sense of right and wrong and the belief in our own personal character traits that have developed over our lifetime. Which can be scary, because it’s our own personal character traits that define our very existence and give meaning to our time spent here on earth.
Could it be that all of us should turn our focus to Self-Affirmation, which I would define as “craving the approval of ourselves” more than Affirmation defined as “craving the approval of others?” Self-Affirmation is a power source fueled by believing in ourselves. Affirmation alone relinquishes power to others being fueled by others opinion of us rather than how we feel about ourselves. It’s a shame that it can take so long for many of us to understand that focusing on other people’s negative opinion of us nearly always leads to a dead end or a cliff. Plus, there are people that don’t even know us that are willing to attack us on social media in an effort to bolster and affirm themselves.
Managing the opinion we have of ourselves and self-approving the decisions we make each day, even for the tiniest of choices we make, can lead to a strong sense of embracing what’s right, which leads to positive character trait development, which leads to us believing in ourselves. And when we believe in ourselves…well…it creates vast opportunities for each of us to utilize what makes each of us unique to the best of our ability.
Zig Ziglar said “You can get everything you want in life if you just help enough OTHER people get what they want.” Every person I’ve ever met that experiences consistent joy and contentment in their life has proven Zig’s statement to be true. Now, carefully think the next sentence through. There is literally, and absolutely, no downside whenever we utilize self-affirmation to provide positive help to others. When we provide positive help to others, we’re at the same time helping ourselves by developing and enhancing positive character traits in ourselves and amplifying the belief we have in ourselves. It’s then that we can create this massive positive change in our culture, our society, our community, and the world that gains momentum as it near effortlessly rolls downhill.
So, let’s do it! YOU….YES, YOU….have the ability to reduce and eliminate your craving for affirmation from others and begin the easy transition to self-affirmation to enhance the character traits that allow you to believe in yourself. Need some high-octane fuel (encouragement) to get started? Believing in yourself begins with accepting that YOU are one of a kind. There’s never been anyone “just like you” nor will there ever be again. It’s your rarities, along with your character traits, that make you special. You’re here on this earth to make a difference, and focusing on self-affirmation will support your ability to make that difference helping others.
If you post on social media, be cautious that whatever you post isn’t being posted to receive affirmation from others. Post something that you have self-affirmed will help others in a way that amplifies your very best character traits and the goodness that’s in your heart. That goodness in your heart?...I know it’s in there. It’s in everyone’s heart. Some just keep it buried a little deeper than others. That’s okay as long as you let it out to play once in a while. I’ve found that many people just need one other person to believe in them before they can believe in themselves. If that’s the case with you, please let me be that person. I know there’s something inside each of you that I can believe in. It’s the reason I attempt to finish each of my columns with: Hey…I Believe In YOU! GiddyUp!