I’m 35, 6’0”, 150 lbs. I love running and lifting weights. However, enjoying my workouts is not sufficient for me. I have a constant need to show off and seek validation from others for my hard work in the gym.
I run outside shirtless whenever I can. I’ve posed nude for figure drawing classes many times, attended nudist resorts, and gone to a nude beach. I spend as much time outside as I can during warm months so I can go to pools, lakes, and water parks. While I enjoy these activities to an extent, the primary reason I visit these places is because it provides ample opportunities for me to show off my body in front of others.
I often wonder, why do I feel the need to constantly impress others and seek validation of my physique?
Updates
1 y
I have been married for 11 years and have 2 young daughters in elementary school. I’m an only child, so I never had any brothers or sisters around. I was only in a couple of short relationships before meeting my wife. I’ve never cheated nor thought about doing so, but I like being seen.
What Girls & Guys Said
Opinion
1Opinion
These types of core behaviours often get set in childhood and are based on your upbringing and family life.
How many siblings do you have? Did you have two parents in the home? Were things organized or chaotic? Were your parents often very busy, not able to spend much time with you? Ask yourself qs like this.
The relationship you had back then with your parents, is often mirrored in significant ways, with your romantic relationships. I'm not saying that you crave being in romantic relationships. But there is likely something about the way you received attention (or didn't, which is even more powerful, potentially) that translates to you wanting to be seen, and acknowledged, now.
If your not in a relationship, then you may simply be seeking a mate. Goes back to the whole dawn of time and Darwin's Theory of natural selection.
There's nothing wrong with feeling good about yourself as long as your not taking it to the point where its the only thing you're about. That can be an unattractive quality to some people too. Mind, body and spirt.
I don't know, but that is really sad.