Rich From Within

No amount of riches and goods on the outside can ever fill a feeling of poverty on the inside. When we have low self-esteem and lack a strong sense of self and self-worth, we struggle to fill this emptiness inside with the goods of the outside world: attention, compliments, money, clothes, power, etc. But like a round peg and a square hole, these goods on the outside cannot fill the void on the inside. So we strive for more and more of these goods, hoping that maybe enough of them will eventually fill that hole and bring about contentment. Yet still, with one million round pegs, the square hole remains empty and unfulfilled. The solution to this puzzle and the way to bring about a generation of children who possess this all important square peg on the inside comes from parenting and how we raise our children. When our children have their physical and emotional needs met, feel validated and appreciated as individuals, and experience consistent, unconditional love, they internalize a feeling of contentment and self-worth that can withstand the ups and downs of the outside world. With the possession of the square peg of self-esteem and self-worth within them, they will not desire an excess of the pegs the outside world has to offer; they will be content with a round peg or two, a rectangle peg, and maybe a couple interestingly shaped pegs here and there. And more importantly, the square peg from within will even give them the strength to withstand not having all the other pegs all of the time. They will still feel okay on the inside even when they are lacking things on the outside. Because when we feel rich from within, even extreme poverty on the outside cannot make us feel poor. Money can't buy you happiness, only square pegs can.