Do You Validate?

Validation. We all seem to seek it. I know I've sought it. But what is it?

I was thinking about the ways I've sought validation and from who. Often times we tend to seek our validation from other people. Women seek it from men and men seek it from women. The problem with that is you are guaranteed to be let down. I spent a large chunk of my life seeking for validation through someone else, and I'm still guilty of doing it on occasion, but I've found that when we seek validation from ourselves and other healthy sources it doesn't seem to back fire. Why do I need to be validated through someone else anyway?