The Need to Feel Recognized for the Legacy You Are Leaving
The Eighth of 10 Emotional Needs of the Soul
I have to admit, this one caught me by surprise. I honestly thought wanting to be recognized was simply a trapping of the ego.
As I received the 8th of the10 Emotional Needs of the Soul (that we’ve been exploring each month), I was a bit shocked. But, I opened up and let this quality of life settle in so I could feel it. Then I realized…
There were times when I really wanted to be recognized for a body of work I’d accomplished, but hadn’t felt recognized at all. And truthfully it hurt.
As I sat with the idea of my legacies being recognized, it actually brought me some comfort. Maybe. Just maybe, it would be okay to be recognized.
As the Grandmothers showed the first Elder, AriannThomas, and I what happens when you are not recognized in your life for the legacies you are leaving, I understood why the soul longs for this to be fulfilled.
Your emotional needs—signs of not being recognized include:
- Feeling resentful of your own accomplishments
- Hardly recognizing your accomplishments
- Undermining or sabotaging your success
- Thinking of yourself as less than what you really are
- Having difficulty accepting a compliment
- Rarely feeling good enough
- Having difficulty recognizing the accomplishments of others
Somewhere between the ages of 40-90, you will fulfill some degree of expertise in your life or have created something of value that could benefit others. This is when recognition becomes important, because is this when you are creating your legacy for the future.
When your emotional need is met and you are recognized for your life work:
- Feeling proud of your accomplishments
- Honoring your accomplishments and are pleased to share what you have learned with others
- Building upon your accomplishments to create even greater success in influence in creating a wonderful world
- Honoring the challenges you’ve overcome and the results you’ve been able to get
- Seeing the wonder of Divine influence in your acts of creation
- Sharing your acts of creation because they are expressions of Divine love, meant to be experienced by others
- Receiving compliments graciously with an open heart, allowing the cycle of giving and receiving to be fulfilled through you
- Understanding when someone compliments you, they are seeing something wonderful inside themselves too
- Feeling good enough to do what you were uniquely created to experience
- Easily recognizing the accomplishments of others, as you honor the Divine expressing through them.
Of course, it’s good to be humble, but none of us have to be so humble that we can’t celebrate how the Divine has been flowing, engaging and expressing through us and those we meet.
You’ll know your humbleness quotient is in balance if you don’t need to brag or exaggerate, but can clearly and gratefully speak to what you have been empowered and supported in accomplishing.
Of course, as with the other 10 Emotional Needs of the Soul, once this quality has been met deep inside you by you and the Divine, people in your life recognize you too.
Receiving recognition might be a little unnerving at first, if you are not used to it, so you might want to remind yourself ahead of time to graciously accept and treasure those moments when they occur.
If you have not felt recognized yet for your life work, it is probably time to take this quality into your Holding meditation (available for free here at Sacred Feminine Awakening), and allow the Mystery to recognize you!
After all, you were created to to leave something meaningful behind, and part and those successes and accomplishments are worthy of recognition.
Misa, this is lovely. I am comforted to read this as I am one who seldom takes credit or expects credit for what I do and know. In fact, the tape that plays in my head often is, “no one listens to me anyway.” Yikes! That is a heavy tape.
I have been dedicated to learning a body of knowledge that is pretty extensive at this point and it deserves some recognition. Time to give myself a pat on the back and stand tall in what I know. Thank you for sharing.
Becky, it’s so powerful that you recognize the tape. It’s heavy, but as I sense you know recognizing it is the first step of releasing it. It takes so much commitment to acquire a body of knowledge, and I’m so glad to hear you acknowledging it. I suspect many have been blessed by that knowledge many times over. That is indeed worth loving honor and recognition. 🙂
I’m so happy that I opened up your email TODAY because it is exactly what I needed to hear today. Maybe I am afraid of success and this is what is holding me back??? Thank you for this.
It certainly can be revealing to take any fear of success into Holding, and allow it to unwind itself. I’m glad this Prescription could stimulate some awareness for you. If you don’t have the Holding meditation, you can get it here for free on our home page: https://SacredFeminineAwakening.com
After 37 years of marriage I became a widow. I created a film titled GHOSTBIKE which is about Trauma, Tragedy, Healing and Hope! I am very proud of it! It has been in many film festivals and has won several awards. It’s aim is to help people understand the seriousness of distracted driving.
I am currently completing a book titled, Remember His Name. It is the story of my grief journey. It is about conquering grief and accepting joy!
These gifts, these creations were given to me by GOD and SPIRIT to be shared with others.
Judith, I’m so glad you took a moment here to share your accomplishments and allow us to recognize your sacred work. Indeed, when we are doing work that is in alignment with our higher selves, it serves in such deep and wonderful ways. Thank you for being present and dedicated in your sacred work!