Self-Esteem: Where'd you find yours?
Today was a rest day from the gym (my lower half is very thankful). While I was at clinicals for grad school today I had the opportunity to sit in on a therapy session for adolescents who had varying psychiatric diagnoses along with drug or alcohol addicitions. I listened to one of the participants speak about her lack of self-esteem and confidence, her past eating disorder, and her dislike of her current body. She stated that she didn't know if she would ever feel confident in herself because even when she was smaller she always saw herself as fat. She doubted her ability to ever attract a guy and her ability to ever be happy again.Of course, I saw a lot of my younger self in her and I tried to explain that you have to fix your head, you have to find something about yourself or something you do that makes you feel good. There's something that you're awesome at that noone can take away. After having said this I began to really think about when and where do most of us find our self-confidence. I know for me it was a combination of many things that finally made me realize I don't suck...at least not all the time and not at everything. Of course, one major contributor to this was CrossFit. But, I also found some confidence when I began college and I realized I'm actually pretty smart, a quick learner, and I'm a damn hard worker when I want to be. I also learned I can hold my own in conversation and I'm a pretty likeable person. Hey, I've got the gift of gab what can I say. (Thanks mom!)
But, I wonder do some of us always feel self-assured? If so is it nurture or nature that makes some of us feel so damn confident? Or do most of us go through an awkward stage when we feel like everyone is judging us and we can't do anything right? (Ummm.... puberty?) Is this awkward stage drawn out well into adulthood for most of us or nipped in the bud sometime in our teenage years or early twenties? I'm sure the answers to these questions vary according to each and every person.
But really....What is it that makes everyone else tick? Where did you "discover" your self-esteem?
3 comments:
Blogs are like the journal-writer/over-thinker's best friend. Glad to see you enjoy writing. I like this post :)
No joke! I didn't realize I had so much to blah blah blah about.
Thought provoking, V. I may take this up from one dudes vantage point. Well written.
And sensitive.
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