One of our dominant emotional needs is the need to be accepted. We all need a sense of belonging. And when we refuse to have it, we put on a brave mask and pretend we can live even without being accepted. And it’s true: we can survive even if we are not accepted. But we cannot grow.
We all need to be accepted. It is one of the forces that drives human behavior. Our need to be accepted is powerful and it is astonishing what most people do to get some form of acceptance or a sense of belonging.
Be accepted and the best version of us
We seek this sense of belonging in a thousand different ways: at school, at work, within the family, in the context of our intimate relationships, going to the disco, even in church. Some ways to satisfy this need are right and help us to pursue our dreams. Others are not and prevent us from becoming the best version of ourselves.
But as we devote ourselves to becoming the best version of ourselves, the people we spend most of the time with will not always agree with what we say. But the people we surround ourselves with are those who will inspire us and challenge us to become our best version.
Be accepted and friendship
The truth about friendship is precisely this: we learn more from our friends than from books. And the people around us can raise our standards. They help us discover the best part of us. No man becomes great alone. The people around us make us better. Spending time with these people helps us to develop a sense of ourselves, teaches us to participate in finding the needs of others and reminds us of our deep connection with friends. We all need to raise our standards, to remind ourselves of our dreams and to challenge us to become the best version of ourselves.
