Self esteem without accomplishment in something that is meaningful to you is difficult to achieve. Self esteem is different than self worth. Self worth is a given. It’s the value you hold as a human being by nature of being human. It’s something that we all share as members of the human race. The person who lives in the streets has no less worth as a human being than the richest person on Wall Street.

However, the person who lives in the streets may have lower esteem for herself than the person who is wealthy.

Self esteem, also, isn’t self entitlement. It’s not a synonym for self conceit. Esteem is the estimation of which you hold something, in this case, yourself. It’s a judgment of one’s competence, a measure of one’s confidence and that does affect how you feel about yourself. These things are based on action, performance. Self esteem cannot be given to you or siphoned off another. It has to be earned or achieved through discovering what you can do.

If I have true self esteem, then another person’s awards or accolades for their earned success does not diminish me. It either inspires me to work harder in that area or open my eyes to where my talents are more apt to be.

All those adds in the Dove video so aptly named “Onslaught” attack the girls in their self worth. It assaults them in areas where they have little to no control, except through the help of external means, either the surgeon’s knife or some product.

It renders you helpless as you wage battle against your genes. Who do you think is going to win? There can be no esteem here, and if by chance, we give the appearance of victory, it will be due to the product or to a surgeon. Where’s the personal accomplishment in that?

I think it’s great we have such videos as “Onslaught”, and it’s important to address the overwhelming effort to brainwash our young and ourselves. But we can’t stop there. We can’t just say no to something. We need to have something we can say yes to.

Having principles, believing in something, setting goals, working for them, discovering your talents, giving yourself the opportunity to experience and enjoy success all go toward building a strong sense of self esteem.

And self esteem makes it easier for us to recognize our worth.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~
Be Notified of New Posts by Email