One of the most liberating things we can do in easing anxiety is to begin to wean ourselves from the need for validation from others.
This seems harder than it actually is.
It starts with the recognition that we don’t have to be or think like everyone else.
Social acceptance can be a nice thing but when it becomes the basis upon which we make our decisions, we’re no longer charting our own course.
Anyone who refuses to conform to what everyone else is doing can expect to be criticized for not sticking to the popular script.
Just know that none of our lives must be subject to the approval of others.
Aristotle explained why this matters:
“We should as far as possible immortalize ourselves and do all we can to live according to the best element within us – for if it is small in bulk, it is far greater than anything else in power and worth.”
Staying within the herd may seem like the best way to minimize fear or risk but it keeps us from being able to live life on our own terms.
The day we accept the fact that what others think of us is none of our business, is the day that we step out of the chains we’ve forged for ourselves.
We are free to, as Einstein put it, “see with [our] own eyes and to feel with [own] hearts.”
Self ownership is the antidote to anxiety. The earlier in life we learn this, the better.
You may also enjoy Latter-day Voices, another quality publication in the Fifty-two Seven Alliance family.
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