Activate Self-Esteem Stamp

    Sometimes we lose our self-confidence or we experience low self-esteem for some reasons: we failed at something, we grew up with abusive parents, we didn't meet ours and others' expectations, we look different from others, some people are indifferent to or discriminate us, etc.

    Personally and honestly, I'm very prone to low self-esteem to the point that I want to isolate myself—forever—from the rest. I admit that it's tempting to resort to self-pity mode whenever my esteem get bruised. And y'know, even genuine praises, compliments, or encouraging words won't really work on me once I fall on this state because that little voice inside my head counter it and try to convince me those aren't true and that I'm really worthless, useless, unwanted, or a loser who's better to disappear. (That voice is really cruel.)

    Dealing with low self-esteem is something serious and it can be difficult sometimes because the person often struggles with himself all the time. In the past years, I've finally met who my real enemy is: it's myself. If you keep on criticizing yourself and constantly listening to that negative voice inside your head, you might end up living a very unhappy life full of regrets—and nobody wants that. If you want to free yourself from this, especially if you're currently experiencing low self-esteem, you must [always] help yourself first. What I do oftentimes is to keep this cliche—and it's the truth anyway—in mind that we're all humans and of course, nobody's perfect so it's OK to fail or make mistakes because after all, we're not supposed to be as perfect as an angel. Besides, great people, kings & queens, celebrities, professionals, and whoever you know from the history to present life committed mistakes, too, (so why not an ordinary human like me?) and I'm pretty sure they've got their esteem bruised, too, at some point, so I shouldn't be even harsh or punish myself.

    I also keep in mind that although we're all the same as humans, we're not supposed to be exactly the same in so many ways. And really, it's OK to be a little (or totally) different from the rest. It's OK to be shy, to be loud, to be a loner, to be thin or fat (if that's your body type), to be non-athletic (if you're not into sports), to be a virgin or not, to have an ugly past, to take a fancy or interest over things many find weird, to prefer this or that fashion style, to listen to country/ballad/rock/pop/Bieber's song, etc. Be yourself, embrace yourself for who you really are (if you haven't yet)—and be realistic; no need to fool yourself for something you're not. And you must learn to recognize your good traits (don't ignore it, everyone including YOU has it) and accentuate it, acknowledge your shortcomings & imperfections, improve yourself, gain skills if you haven't any, focus less on what others think of you, tame that inner critic, break the habit of putting yourself down, be kind and stop comparing yourself to others, be less envious and self-conscious, set aside your insecurities, accept genuine compliments, live today, have faith, and whenever you feel down, give yourself some break... then activate your self-esteem—and let's eat ice cream!