Without being liked more and more 😊
It hurts and is even offensive that almost no one (and the actual number of friends, followers, or likes doesn’t matter here 😉) needs what I offer, almost no one understands me, which means they don’t confirm that I’m of value, or worthy of attention and love.
Only a few admit this to themselves, but the focus on how much one is liked or approved by others often becomes a measure of how good one is and, ultimately, a measure of one’s value and the meaning of one’s life.
All these phenomena of popularity or coolness (admiration from others) are essentially taken as the “natural” measure of the value of one’s life and direction as if saying, “Comrades, you’re on the right way!”
But it’s measured by whom? By the majority, which means by no one in particular, and it shows conformity to conventional standards or trendy tendencies. There is no such thing as being liked enough if the focus is on external approval. It will never be enough for long and, ultimately, always insufficient.
The desire to be liked and approved stems from a sense of not being loved enough, which, in its turn, goes back to individual experiences in childhood and often leads to search for love and approval through doing and saying what others pay attention to.
If we are self-aware, all of this helps us get back to self-love. To getting to know oneself, accepting oneself as we are, and BEING who we really are. Without trying to BECOME someone else.
Because when we are “deserving the approval” of others our true selves are left out of the “life feast”. Sometimes it remains on the sidelines forever. Unlived.
And you? Do you count how many likes your posts receive?