Valid.

Most of my friends didn't believe me when I told them that I'm a shy person, and understandably, because I relax around people/places/culture I am familiar with. However, since moving to Australia, I found myself wrestling between who I really am, and fitting in to the culture here. The people here are amazing and very nice generally, but all cultures are different. I thought it might not be a problem anymore, having lived in various countries and learning the local culture. But something I learned in my TESOL course is that every culture is different, and we all still need to learn to adapt again, each and every time we go some place new.

I want to be myself, speak out and voice my opinions. Without being afraid of people labeling me as 'different'. Just as I was struggling last night, I prayed and started reading my Bible plan before going to bed. The verses I read were just simply as if God was in the room sitting next to  me and talking to me, comforting me. Which He probably was. :)

Then this morning, I saw this article.

"Self-approval comes out of self-acceptance, which rises out of the recognition that we are, in fact, enough, just as we are. With that recognition, we can free ourselves from fear; we no longer need to look outside for a validation that, on the inside is self-evident."

I want to stop looking outside for validation. Because I accept myself.