As a 24 y/o who struggled with forming meaningful friendships in my teen years, your comment as someone in their 40s was soothing.
I'd like to reach that stage of life where I internalize the fact that other's validation doesn't matter as much as I think it does.
I completely and wholly understand -- intellectually -- that other folks opinion and/or attention toward me shouldn't have an impact on my self-esteem and well-being (and just like many others, I've even read whole books on this very topic), but putting it into practice has been a struggle and I find it super hard to fight against the in-built and well-oiled 'validation seeking' neural circuitry up in my head.
As a 24 y/o who struggled with forming meaningful friendships in my teen years, your comment as someone in their 40s was soothing.
I'd like to reach that stage of life where I internalize the fact that other's validation doesn't matter as much as I think it does.
I completely and wholly understand -- intellectually -- that other folks opinion and/or attention toward me shouldn't have an impact on my self-esteem and well-being (and just like many others, I've even read whole books on this very topic), but putting it into practice has been a struggle and I find it super hard to fight against the in-built and well-oiled 'validation seeking' neural circuitry up in my head.