Pieces of skull

I recently tried to place myself within the confines Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. While I feel that my physiological and safety needs have been met, I can't say that I was as sure about my affiliation and esteem levels. Overall, I think that I hover between these areas. I don't kid myself about self-actualization. I'm nowhere near it. However, much of what I think about Maslow stems from a fundamental understanding of semantics. What is self-actualization and just when does it start to become approachable? It seems to me that most text and reference works portray self-actualization to be as easily attainable as the basic needs before it, a point I strongly disagree on.

I seem to have replaced the desire to actualize with a desire to loathe and destruct. My potential hasn't been reached yet, and I'm not holding out too much hope that it will in the future. I wish people used mottos more often. Mottos can give a lot of insight into how people think or feel. I've had several personal mottos. For about a month now, I've tried to make mine "Let It Be". Alternatives could be: Let sleeping dogs lie. That's water under the bridge. Be comfortable with who and where you are. The preceding idea is one that I am considerably preoccupied with.

Here's a link to a pretty thorough Maslow introduction, if you're interested or would like a refresher: http://web.utk.edu/~gwynne/maslow.HTM