To pre-empt any confusion (though I believe cousin Catherine understands precisely  what I wrote about) I’m talking about affirmation as written about by Conrad M. Baars, M.D. in his book, “Born Only Once: The Mirracle of Affirmation” which I absolutely devoured tonight, in one sitting over coffee.

The section on Self-Affirmation was enlightening, not merely as a means of learning that I alone cannot affirm myself, but as a means to build a deeper understanding of my closest friendships as well.

It also saddens me to realize that the state of being inadequately affirmed is so prevalent, especially among my generation.

I won’t apologize for my sadness, but instead, will try and ponder everything that I’ve read tonight, to see how I can truly, effectively come to “be” and then as a result “do” whatever is best to help be an affirming person, once I myself am properly affirmed, however long that may take.

Likewise, I’m not going to apologize for being angered by the occasional actions of my friends, but I do hope that I can learn to help my friendships be mutually-affirming instead of mutually-denying, and at the same time, I hope that those friends of mine who are themselves inadequately affirmed, just like I am, will examine their own attempts at self-affirmation, and realize that there is so much more out there for them, just as there will be for me, once we come to be fully affirmed.