Self-esteem is a term used in Psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own self worth. Self-esteem encompasses a variety of emotions and beliefs in ones abilities.
Low self-esteem
Self-esteem arises through a lack of emotional support, particularly in the early years. It is the support network around us that helps build confidence. Self-esteem will give you the opportunity to reflect on your values and how you see yourself, your thoughts and feelings too as you go about your daily lives.
You know you will have good self-esteem when you feel comfortable in your own skin, enough to to appreciate and respect yourself and your values. If you're feeling inferior or inadequate, or if you're struggling with confidence issues, you can self-doubt and be critical of yourself, that's when you know you're dealing with low self-esteem issues.
Because anyone feels good about themselves and they have the confidence to match without the ego, they know they're not dealing with self-esteem issues.
Yes great info. Timely topic.
Thanks Randy.
Very good information. I've suffered with low self esteem all my life. As a child and teenager I was riduculed by my peers due to being over weight and large breasted. And I compared myself to my sister all the time because she was mainly normal and suffered no illnesses. She made great grades and was very pretty and always got praise and recognition from my mother and it was like I was mediocrer. Plus I couldn't go and do what the other kids did due to my illness and it has carried over to some extent to adulthood. I'm still trying to better myself (which isn't a bad thing).I still feel inferior. And my mother knows how I feel and she just says I need to forget the past. Thats hard to do though. Lisa
Lisa. I think we do tend to compare ourselves to our siblings when they seem to have everything, the looks, the brains etc. You have a long list of comparisons here, which I am sure at the time will have made you feel miserable. Not sure what your mother did to help you with your feelings. It sounds as though your feelings were completely overlooked.
It's fine for your mother to tell you to forget the past now, easier said than done, but the realities are that you will need to deal with your thoughts. Your mother knows how you feel, but have you had the conversation with her about her part in all of this? That will go some way to dealing with your past.
There are things you can do to change the way you see yourself.