Humans. Such complex creatures.

We all are uniquely, individual organisms, created with all desire to be loved, accepted and to belong. That’s natural. It’s okay for us to feel this way because we are social beings. We are natural communicators. In fact, telecommunications companies and social media sites profit from this fact.

Over time, society has learnt to communicate in various ways and connect using many methods. Back in the day, we used to use the infamous Nokia 3310. You could talk for hours and play a game of Snake without your battery life being reduced drastically. As for call credit… Well, it was particularly expensive. These days we have multiple social media apps installed on our phones with limited storage, to communicate with the same set of persons. Does it make sense? You be the judge.

What does not make sense, at least to me, is that in a bid to be accepted by persons on social media, we lose a hold on who we are sometimes. Our core values and morals are thrown out the window because we want persons in cyberspace to “like, share and subscribe”. Granted, it feels good to be affirmed through these methods. But, what will happen if all these things fade? 

The issue with living for the acceptance of others is that you can feel worthless when they can disapprove of you in an instant. This does not mean that you should not take constructive criticisms or get advice from others. We all need a second eye to tell us when we fall out of line. It means that your identity is found in what people say, not who you were meant to be.

We were made for more. We were made to be people of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We were made to be excellent, not only for ourselves, but to impact others who look at our lives. When we try to change to fit into this box they want to put us in, we are settling for mediocrity.

So, who are you? Who or what is your identity found in? Ask yourself the hard questions and discover where you are at and where you need to be. I hope in your beautiful complexity you will come to the conclusion that life is too short to be a puppet. You are worth more than that.

^{Photo by Akeil Harris (IG: @robby_.photos)}