I know it’s a mistake looking to someone else for a sense of myself, but how can I keep from giving myself away?

What good is any feeling we may have about ourselves, if it only lasts as long as others agree to it? Seeking and receiving approval from others is like sitting down hungry to an imaginary meal. You’re invited to eat all you want, but no matter how much imaginary food is served, you can never get your fill. Your hunger remains. No fictional feast ever satisfies. But we still look to others for our sense of self even though the very moment it’s received, it must be renewed. No one can give us that which can only be found with our Self. No one can give us the approval we seek, because it isn’t his or hers to give. And the more we understand the truth of this higher fact, the less inclined we’ll be to give ourselves away. We must do the needed inner work, which alone leads to owning our own lives.