I wrote this to an acquaintence who was feeling unvalued and unimportant and disposable.
(I once wrote a better blog post on the very subject but I apologize, I'm too tired and busy to go find it at the moment. I felt just these words were good enough to share now.)
Sorry you are having a low day. The words of others can uplift yet in their absence, when we feel more isolated and not-validated it can be so discouraging. I so need validation on some days and it is just not there. My husband keeps telling me to stop looking for it from the outside and just to know what I want and that I have to recognize what I'm doing on my path and to somehow feel that validation from within myself (and from him). The more I look to others for the validation the more they disappoint me so I give up on the majority of people in my life to reassure me what I'm doing is worthwhile and important and valuable. I have a few close friends I can call when I'm feeling low and just ask for them to please tell me some encouraging things, and they do. I know somewhere within you, you do have that power, it must just be buried today. A good night's sleep often does wonders.
This general feeling can apply to anyone but it especially seems to present itself to mothers at home and homeschool moms and moms with kids with various learning problems or disabilities or challenges. Perhaps the common denominator there is the "always on duty" and higher then typical amount of parental responsibility that comes with the aforementioned situations.