Validation

Validation is a funny thing. We validate parking, so we can show that we have a legit reason for parking someplace. We have valid or invalid coupons and tickets. We have valid and invalid filenames on computers. Rarely, however, do we think about how valid we are.

Do you feel validated?

Do you feel invalid?

What is your validity based on? Your performance? Your past mistakes? Your present circumstances? Who you are with, what you are doing, what's in your bank account, what you drive, where you attend church, what position you hold there, how much you know, how mature you are, how much influence you have, how many people love you?

Are you valid?

What makes you feel worthwhile? Getting things done? Others telling you that you are valid? Being needed or being desired?

Are you worthwhile?

What makes a person invalid? Are they worthless, too much trouble, too much hassle? Do they talk too much, know too little, not look right, not act right? Not in the right place at the right time with the right things to say?

What is valid?

Just stop for a minute. If your brain is going a million miles a minute, slow it down, take a deep breath. What is a minute worth? What is the worth of a breath? What is the worth of a quiet moment without productivity, without effort or labor. With achieving or accomplishing? Is that minute, that breath, that moment of your existence wasted? A deep breath, a moment in time, is it valid? Is a heartbeat valid?

Is it worthwhile?

If you can answer that question, then none of the rest of it will matter.