Validation

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People are persistent in seeking approval.  Whether it’s about who they are, a decision their making, their behavior, or a situation, people feel that they can’t be unbiased about things.  That they couldn’t have viewed the situation clearly because they might be influenced by personal feelings – which of course you’re going to be to a certain degree – so they seek answers from others.  You seeking validation from others seems like a good idea, however, by doing this you are creating this blind and dangerous mentality that others are ‘correct’.

One of the biggest contributors to our self-worth is validation.  It is very emotionally reassuring to experience the approval of others. Reason for this is because they can offer this external validation for our positive feelings about ourselves.  Sometimes it can be a good thing, it becomes an emotional high but if we don’t get our daily dose we suffer. Don’t rely on this too much.  Our primary source of approval needs to be internal and not external.

From external to internal.

‘If we remain dependent on external factors to feel approval, then we will always be emotionally vulnerable. Our self-esteem would be in the hands of things that we have very little control over. This kind of situation fosters a needy, helpless, dependent mindset.

Our primary source of approval needs to be internal and not external. We need to approve of ourselves to feel true inner peace and security. That internal sense of approval needs to develop until it is no longer vulnerable to the shifting tide of external validation. Self-esteem comes from how we feel about ourselves!’

How self-approval works.

You’ve got to stop believing that everyone else is right, that they have some greater knowledge that you apparently missed out on!  That they have this step-by-step book on how your life will play out.  In all honesty no one knows you better than you know yourself.  You need to start trusting yourself and your opinions.  Now I’m not saying that you should stop asking people for advice – that would be ludicrous – and because you probably wouldn’t do it.  What I’m saying is take your advice first.  Listen to your heart.  You don’t know who has your best interest at heart.  You are in need of a change, and that change is for you to have a healthy belief in yourself.

It’s easy to confide in a friend, partner, or shrink about problems that you’re going through.  It makes us feel good sharing our situations because you feel that the weight has been lifted off your shoulders.  There is a fault here – just like in any other plan – you’re assigning value to their advice because you love them.  They could have what you want (career, business, relationship etc.) so it would be easy for you to confirm their opinion.  It’s one thing if you ask someone who you trust (and they’ve earned it) to give you their fair opinion and they follow through with it to your internal needs.  However only YOU know what’s right for you.

Now let me ask you.. Do you feel worthy of your opinions? Do you feel that you can only go further in life if the advice is from someone else?

There is a common thread that we all share.  That is a sense of worthiness.  People feel that they are not meant to live the life that they were created. Some feel that the only way to get where they want is by following/taking opinion of others.  This is what you can get from another person: an opinion on a movie, a hug, a ride home, and even their opinion on what songs you might like.. but not an opinion on your life! 

You deserve to be happy and the first step towards that is by trusting yourself and your opinions.  People unintentionally block their own happiness.  There is a difference between thinking you deserve to be happy, and feeling worthy of being happy.  If you don’t feel that you are good enough to accept the things coming your way then you will never reach that true happiness.  Right now you might not be able to see it, to accept it, or to even believe it; you are here for a reason.  You being alive is all the validation that you need.  You being here is your birth right to be happy. Everybody is here for a reason.  I hold that saying close to my heart. Hold it close to yours and recognize you’re meant to do great things.

Below is a video that I enjoyed about ‘Validation’ Enjoy and comment below!

Are They The One? Or Are They Just A Time Filler?

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Jessica Moreno

When in a relationship you think about the future.  It’s inevitable.  Planning on going on a date next week?  How about going to his friend’s wedding 2 months from now?  How about that concert to see your favorite band?  Those all are short-term dates that you expect your lover to be apart of once you start dating.

I can’t speak for everyone else but when I go into a relationship I can almost predict down to the date how long the guy will be in my life.  I’ve met some men who I knew I would only talk to for a month, others a couple of months.  There have been two men in my life where I saw the relationship going somewhere.  I saw one around for 2 years max.  The other one I saw white picket fences with, a big yard, kids, the big picture.  This had me wondering… Even though I only saw a future with ONE guy, why did I continue to date the others KNOWING that they would play a small role in my life?  Was it because I was lonely and wanted the company?  Maybe I continued to date them because of the experience.  I don’t know but it made me want to ask my readers the same question.  Do you believe they are the one? Or are you just having them around as a time filler?

Despite the relationships that didn’t work out, I’m glad that I did continue to date them.  The men in my life were an experience.  As many things are, I am grateful for what I learned while being in these relationships.  I learned to have strength, there was heartache, there were happy and sad moments.  Most of all, the biggest lesson that I learned was being able to be fearless and put myself out there.  Accepting someone for who they are and caring about someone who truly accepted me for who I was.  That was the biggest risk of all, and even though it didn’t work out, I am a better woman because of it.

So let me ask you..

When in a relationship do you believe that they’re the one OR Do you already know that they will just be a time filler?

Leave your comments below. I’m interested in hearing what you have to say!

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Are You Ready To Have Sex?

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Are You Ready To Have Sex?

Jessica Moreno

It is important if you are thinking of having sex, (or being any type of intimate) you have to ask yourself, is this right for you?  Are you ready?  My opinion is:  If you happened to come across my page, you must have type this question into Google and was looking for an article to confirm what you already know… That you are NOT ready.

Since you are here, you might as well continue reading due to the count I have a lovely and very informative blog :]

First off, what is sex?  Sex is a very personal, intimate act that had a meaning, a true meaning a long time ago.  Before it meant if you loved someone and if you wanted to start a family with them.  Nowadays sex has lost its meaning and could be considered the new handshake.  It saddens me, on a personal level, when you do any type of sexual action with someone you give up a bit of yourself.  I know just by reading these words you might not understand.  I will try my best to explain what I mean by that.

I commend anyone, boy or girl, who did want to ask this question.  If you already had sex there’s no shame in it.  You might have thought you were ready, you probably didn’t think it would be a big deal.  I will not judge you.  That is not what my site is about, I am here to answer any questions my readers have, and I will be as honest as I possibly can.

With every generation I fear for it, I see everything that once had a true meaning, lose it.  You’re supposed to have sex with someone you care about, someone you love.  Not “OMG he’s so amazing! I can’t live without him! He told me he loved me! I’m an adult” type love.  Believe me if you have said any of these things to your friends then you are not ready.

Believe it or not I was 20 when I had my first time, I was so much older than when my friends experienced their first time.  Let me tell you something that people are not willing to tell you.  It’s scary.  It’s nerve wrecking.  You feel uncomfortable most of the time, you don’t know what to do.  You have so many thoughts going through your head saying “This isn’t right, I want to stop but it’s too late to turn back.”  It’s never to late to turn back.  You could read any blog, any website, hear all the stories in the world about everyone’s first time.  Yours can be different.

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Am I Doing This Because I Want To?

I’ve heard countless stories where my friends, guys and girls always tell me “I wish I waited longer”  ”I wish I didn’t have sex with the first guy that told me he liked me”  ”I wish I was smarter about my choices when I was younger”  I’m not here to scare you but I am here to give you the facts.

Are you thinking about having sex because someone else wants you to?  Maybe you’re not ready, but your partner is very pushy about it.  Have all of your friends “done it” and say it’s cool?

It’s normal to feel peer-pressure about sex, I was in my 20′s when I had sex for the first time.  I knew people who said did it when they were 14-18.  They would “brag” about it.  Reason why I am putting brag in quotations is because it’s not something to brag about, and if you are bragging about it, it’s because you’re over-compensating it.  It was most likely a horrible experience, something you wish you could go back and redo and you’re trying to convince yourself more than convince others.

Do any of these sound familiar?

  • You would if you loved me!
  • But you did it before with someone else!
  • Everyone else is doing it!
  • You were willing before, what changed?
  • Don’t you want to make our relationship stronger?
  • You’ll have to do it sometime – why not now, with me?
  • I’ll be gentle, and it’ll b  e really great, I promise!”
  • I’ll only put it in for a second….”

If you recognize any of these phrases, then you should think carefully!  These are not the reasons why you should have sex.  A partner who says this is just trying to put pressure on you.  Be careful though, you can receive pressure from more sources than one.  The media, books, movies even your friends…

  • You mean you’ve never done it before!?!?
  • I lost it when I was twelve…”
  • Yeah, I’ve had sex loads of times…”
  • You’re a virgin, you wouldn’t understand…”
  • No one will be interested in you if they hear you’re a prude.”
  • It’s amazing – you don’t know what you’re missing.”

“Many of your friends will only be saying this sort of thing because they think everyone will laugh at them if they admit they’ve never really done anything! Besides, being sexually experienced at a young age doesn’t necessarily make someone mature.” avert.org

Are You Ready For The Consequences of Sex?

With sex comes more than the “fun” that you think you’ll have.  There are many risks by having sex with someone, while most kids (and people) even my age, find themselves invincible.  They feel like nothing can touch them.  That’s not the case with sex, once you have sex with someone, you are putting your health, life, body, and future in jeopardy.  You could:

  • Get pregnant
  • STD‘S
  • STI’S

You risk getting infected.  Unless both you AND your partner are virgins, when you have sex with that person you’re having sex with everyone they had sex with, and everyone THAT person had sex with.
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Herpes, Gonorrhea, Chlamydia.. These are just a few of the diseases that you are at risk at being exposed to.  Now you’re probably thinking to yourself “It will never happen to me.  I’ll use condoms”  Even with condoms, you still are exposing yourself to these diseases/infections.  Some of these can be cured (STI) while others can’t (STD)  You don’t need the rest of your life to be determined just by one mistake you made when you were 13 or 14 years old.

More Information about the risks and safety tips from STI’s and STD’s: Here

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Getting Pregnant.

You put yourself at risk of getting pregnant.  My friend just had sex one time, just one time, but that’s all it took.  Just that one time.  She got pregnant, ended up having a baby at the age of 15, didn’t finish high school.  Now she is 23, trying to go to school and get a good job but she’s having a lot of trouble being a single mom.  Of course this is not how all situations will be, but it is a serious situation.  This is a possible outcome.  It may not seem like it now, despite all the “Teen Moms” and “Sixteen and Pregnant” Shows, being pregnant is not a glamorous thing.  YOU WILL NOT BE ON TV!

I hate those shows because I believe it encourages young girls to have sex.  With that being said it might seem easy on a tv show, but in life there are things you might not have even considered.

  • You won’t be able to go out with you friends
  • You might lose your boyfriend
  • You’ll have to become an adult faster
  • Morning feedings, diaper changes
  • Money
  • Putting your dreams on hold

You can’t think about yourself anymore.  With having a baby yes you will get bigger, you might lose your boyfriend, the lucky ones have the support of their family (believe it or not some don’t) You can’t think about yourself anymore.  You have a baby, you have to feed them, cloth them, bath them, hold them and love them.

Babies will cry, make a mess, spit up, smell etc.. Some days will seem easier than others, and some days will seem intolerable.  However I feel that it  is my job to tell you how to be safe if you do consider to have sex.  There are ways to prevent yourself from getting pregnant and getting infections.  However these methods are not 100%.  The only thing that is 100% is being abstinence.  I know for most that is not even an option so I won’t enforce it.  Here are some methods that are not a sure thing but it is something:

  • Condoms
  • Birth Control
  • ImplantsI found a website that has all the information:
  • Is birth control safe?
  • Which methods are most effective?
  • Most discrete methods?
  • How much does it cost?

All these questions and more are answered on this link.

Final Thoughts

I believe that if you were searching for a direct answer to this question you will not find  it.  The only person that would know if you’re ready for sex is you.  I can give you all the information in the world but only you will be able to decide if you are ready or not.  I believe that when people type a question like this into Google search it is because they are looking for reassurance to something they already knew, deep down inside.  You were probably looking for reasons tell your partner no, that you’re just not ready.  THAT’S JUST IT!  Just tell them you’re not ready, if they end up leaving you because you said that then they weren’t for you.  Trust me, look out for yourself, care for yourself more than them.  You have to live with yourself the rest of your life.

You could read this and still have sex, that’s your personal choice.  Remember there is no right or wrong answer to this question.   There are feelings though, take both you and your partners emotions into consideration.  This is a big step, and don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.  If you are still confused talk to someone, your doctor, school nurse, older family member, even your parents (no matter how uncomfortable)  These are the people you need to talk to.

They know more than you think and they love and care about you, so they will give you a straight and honest answer.  When considering a decision like this your friends do not know best.  Seek an adult for information.  I hope my article was of some assistant also.

If you liked my article or found it helpful, leave a comment.  I would love to hear how I could improve my writing to help others.

Like Jessa? Following me on Facebook Here I post an article every week.