Approval

 
Your words control me
I want your approval
Please do not criticise
Just to say well done
 
I need your approval
It makes me happy
But do I really?
Will it make me whole?
 
I fear your criticism
I want you to like me
To have a good opinion of me
And be please with my doings
 
But this is wrong of me
I am looking to the wrong person
For approval and love
True joy will never be gained here
 
I am being deceived
All my life this has been my aim
To get approval from others
To think that completes me
 
Worldly love is great
But it is not the end
To gain complete joy
I need to raise my eyes higher
 
I am already accepted
I was chosen before I was born
I am wanted and overall I am truly loved
I have nothing to prove
 
Jo Anne Kennedy
August 2020