What are you Trying to Prove?

I think that most everyone has something they're trying to prove. Maybe it's a subconscious thing for a lot of people, but I think it is probably something that deeply affects our lifestyles in ways that we don't always realize.

If I'm really honest with myself, I have a few things I feel the need to prove. Most of them are a result of trying to prove someone wrong.

"You told me X about myself, so I'm going to make a complete fool of you by proving you wrong."

It can be a real motivator. Sometimes it can help us accomplish good things, but I'm not sure that it's the healthiest motivator. I'm thinking that anytime you hope someone else ends up looking foolish, it's probably not the kindest thought in the world.

The funny thing is that the person that we most want to prove something to usually couldn't care less. So we jump through hoops, stress ourselves out, let our other- more important- relationships suffer, and for what?

So that's my deep question of the day:

What are you trying to prove?

It's not something I expect everyone to know off the top of his/her head, but I'll bet we can all come up with something.

Feel free to leave your answer anonymously in the comments. You can also share why you feel the way you do if you can do so without dishonoring someone. This is about owning our own junk--not putting it off on someone else.

Sometimes it's just good to know that other people have issues they need to work through too.