Writers 
I used to think that if I shaped my life to please people, they would appreciate me more.
So I paid attention.
To how I looked.
To how men saw me.
To the compliments.
To the praise.
To the attention.
And slowly, without even realizing it, I built my confidence on validation.
If men thought I was beautiful, I felt beautiful.
If they admired me, I felt worthy.
If they praised me, I felt like I was doing something right.
But the funny thing is, the more I received validation, the more I needed it.
Because when your confidence is built on people's opinions, you are never really confident.
You are only as confident as the last compliment you received.
And then one day, I asked myself:
“Am I actually serious with life?”
Because what exactly am I living for?
Money?
Cars?
A fleet of cars?
Good clothes?
Being beautiful?
Being praised by men?
Being admired?
Being known?
And honestly...
what is life sef?
Because all these things can be beautiful, but they cannot be the whole meaning of my existence.
Money can buy comfort, but it cannot tell me who I am.
A car can take me somewhere, but it cannot give my life direction.
Praise can make me feel good, but it cannot give my soul meaning.
Beauty can attract attention, but it cannot sustain a life.
So I started looking inward.
And I realized that perhaps life is not primarily about what I have around me.
It is about what I have inside me.
What shapes my heart.
What controls my desires.
What I give my attention to.
What I worship.
What I am becoming when nobody is watching.
And that changed the question for me.
I stopped asking,
“How can I make people admire me?”
And started asking,
“Who am I becoming before God?”
Because I don't want to spend my life impressing people and end up empty inside.
I don't want the world to applaud me while my soul is starving.
I don't want to be rich in possessions and poor in purpose.
I don't want to be beautiful on the outside and completely lost within.
I want a life that means something.
A life that has substance beyond appearance.
A life that is not sustained by applause.
A life that still has meaning when the room is empty and nobody is clapping.
And so, I am learning to give my heart to the One who is Life.
Because perhaps that is the real meaning of living:
Not simply having a lot.
Not simply being admired.
Not simply being seen.
But knowing Who you belong to.
And becoming who you were created to be.
So yes,
I still want beautiful things.
I still want success.
I still want money.
I still want to look good.
I still want to achieve great things.
But I don't want those things to have me.
I want to have them without allowing them to own my heart.
Because at the end of it all,
what is the point of gaining everything people applaud
if you lose the very thing that makes you alive?
I don't just want a life that looks good.
I want a life that is good.
I don't just want to be admired.
I want to be transformed.
I don't just want people to know my name.
I want my life to know its purpose.
And if I must give my heart to something,
then let it be to Him-
the One who is Life Himself.
