Feeling Loved

Hi Friends,

So recently I have been thinking a lot about the whole concept of feeling like you belong and how we are taught that it is something we should strive for. This is something I have struggled with a lot the past few years. My biggest example of what I am talking about is the way I have felt with almost every volleyball team I have ever been on. I have always loved the other girls on my teams and I have had some great friends on these teams but I can't really say that I have ever felt like I belonged on the teams I have been on. I was always just a little bit different than everyone else. I think for awhile I convinced myself that I was the only person that felt this way, that I was the only person insecure about what my place was with people. I also didn't only feel this way with my team, I also felt out of place with most friends and other groups I was involved in.

Earlier today, I had a conversation about this with a friend of mine. After talking about how I felt like I didn't belong with some people, I started to question if that was really what mattered most to me.

I realized that feeling like you belong isn't necessarily the most important thing to me anymore. After thinking about it I realized that even if I maybe never have felt like I belonged somewhere, I also never felt that I was not cared for or loved. The people I surround myself with don't really understand everything about me and yes I like different things than a lot of the people I spend most of my time with but the people I surround myself with are amazing and kind people who do have my best interest in mind, who care about my feelings, and who care if I am happy or not, so if I really think about it I would take that any day over feeling like I belonged.

My overall point of this is that I think we as a society should change our mindset and stop striving to feel like we fit in or belong and start striving to find the right people to surround ourselves with. Find the people that love you for you. Find the people that want to see you succeed, that want to hear your annoying weird rants because they like seeing you passionate about something, and that allow you to not feel like you ever have to pretend or try to be someone you are not, because those are the people you want in your life. Those are the people that will make you a better person. 

Also, I want to make sure that if you are reading this, you realize that it is okay to want to feel like you belong, that is a very human and normal feeling to have, but I think feeling loved and cared for is much more important and will have a much bigger effect on you than a feeling of belonging. 

This has been a really random and back and forth post but it was something I wanted to share so I hope it wasn't too confusing to follow!

These are a few people who have always made me feel loved no matter what and I am forever grateful for them!

Until Next Time,

Morgan