I have often wondered where I would be right now if I had a higher self-esteem! As we go through life, the things that people say about us even if they are not directly said can damage the way we view ourselves. Almost my whole life, I would overhear people make fun of the way I walked or say that my butt was big, that I could stand to lose a little weight. Did they do it in front of me? Sometimes but not always!
There were those kids in school who would mimic the way I walked. You all know the kids that I am talking about! The ones who always had someone they would make fun of! As a child you never wanted them to know you heard them or that it hurt your feelings so you would hide it. Well that continued my whole life!
My self image was always that I was fat and that I could use to lose a few pounds! Maybe if I tried harder, I could walk straighter and people would quit laughing at me! Every time I looked into the mirror, I saw the extra weight. Let me just say that I never weighed over 113 lbs while in school! I was so conscious of my weight that I would get on the scale once a week to make sure that I didn't gain anything. That continued until I got pregnant with my first child. The whole 9 months that I was pregnant, I gained 25 lbs. Wore sweatpants and never had to buy maternity close. All my regular shirts still fit over my belly. After I had him, I could go back to wearing all my regular clothes. I weighed about 140 pounds which is the most that I have weighed in my life the day I delivered him. He was a healthy 7 lbs 7 oz boy! I still struggled with my weight! 3 years later, I got pregnant with my daughter! I barely gained 20 lbs with her. She ended up being a 5 week early preemie who weighed 5 lbs 3 oz and they didn't think her lungs would be developed. She was in distress so they had to take her early. Well she came out screaming, stayed under the warmer for a couple hours and never left my side the rest of our stay in the hospital.
So you are probably saying what does this have to do with your self-esteem? Words hurt and can damage someone not just for a day but for the rest of their lives. I hear so much about bullying that goes on in the schools and life itself that I often wonder, "What would the world look like if we replaced the negative stuff that we say to each other with positive things?" Each one of us has amazing qualities that we can share with each other. We can choose to build someone up instead of tear them down! Imagine how our lives would be if we had constant encouragement instead of finding all the negative qualities in people! Please choose today to change the way we talk about and treat one another! Make someone's day by doing a small nice gesture! Hold the door open for someone, tell a friend you're thinking of them, compliment them on something they do well, help them improve their self-esteem by Believing in them! I still struggle with this everyday and positive encouragements have helped me and I am trying to heal the wounds of my past! We may never know what my full potential really was because I couldn't overcome the obstacles. When you have goals in place and believe in yourself that you can achieve them, success will follow! Low self-esteem does not allow you to reach your highest potential because you don't believe you can!
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