As I’ve grown older, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to find meaningful connections, mostly because I’m not accepted for who I am and judged for not living up to who I’m expected to be.

A 17-year-old who is not allowed to speak in public in her own country has won a prestigious international award for advocating for the rights of Afghan girls.

And why you should, according to psychologists.

We believe that we need to sacrifice ourselves for love, but love is everlasting. Relationships end.

We have never formally learned how to look within ourselves to find the motivation to express outwardly what we feel inside.

We have the power to choose our activities, and the “no’s” in life create the boundaries to the path that we walk on.

I tend to believe that there is a reason for our suffering. We don’t understand until we see our way through it and get the chance to reflect.

When discussing slavery here, we aren’t talking about 1619. We are not talking about people working for no living wage, or to clear a debt. The slavery we are referring to is our attachment to the things of this world. Think about it. We want stuff, obtain stuff, and then we become a slave to…

The more we attribute negativity towards ourselves, the more we spiral into the states of depression we seek to remove ourselves from, ironically with more pride.

Ironically, doubling down on self-love confirms the need for external validation by trying to become its opposite.