We all have heard phrases like, “You should have high self-esteem, it's very important for your overall health.....” and many such clauses. But do we know what it actually means? If you ask me, self-esteem is something that comes from within. It is about having opinions, opinions about yourself, and a lot of times these opinions are not positive, which is completely fine because we are all homosapiens. If I talk about myself, there have been numerous instances in my life where I have not valued my worth, and as much as it hurts to express but I lacked self-trust. Self-esteem is about trusting yourself, it's about understanding that you deserve the absolute best and nothing less. It is about understanding that you can't please everyone. As someone who has spent a lot of time pleasing people and caring about their opinions, I just have one thing to say to you, you can't keep everyone happy, there will always be someone who wouldn't be satisfied. The only person you have to keep happy and satisfied is your own self. The moment you truly start feeling happy and content from within, you'll stop caring about what others think of you. I was talking to a close friend a few weeks back about low self-esteem, insecurities, body image issues and I spent a little time thinking about how these three are connected to each other. I made a few conclusions about it. First and foremost, body image issues. What are body image issues? It's being engrossed in comparing your body, appearance, skin color, hair to unrealistic ideals. That is utterly and unreservedly unnecessary. Remember: the body you don't like is an ideal body for someone else and the ideal body for you is a body despised by the one who has it. As we all know, the grass is always greener on the other side. I understand that the cavilling and judgemental society around us has created this unnecessary pressure to look and behave in a certain way. However, you are by no means obliged to follow them.
This leads me to the second conclusion that body image issues create insecurities and comparison. As they say, comparison is the thief of joy. Why compare yourself with others when you were born with a unique and individual identity? This leads me to the final conclusion- insecurities and comparison lead to low self-esteem. I read a wonderful quote and I'd like to share it, "It's not what you are that holds you back, it's what you think you are not." That is so true. We are all so unique, so distinct, so different that we can do anything we want and achieve everything we want to but just because of " uh, I don't think I can do that", it leads you to not being able to achieve that and feeling bad about yourself. Low self-esteem is when everyone compliments you but you still don't feel worthy. But you deserve all those wonderful comments. You are so loved, so wonderful, so precious and so unique. So make it your habit to appreciate yourself, make a promise to yourself that you will value yourself, and consider yourself worthy of a plethora of happiness and goodness and even more.
Author: Asavari Nautiyal
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