Saturday, November 6, 2010

DAY 49 - SELF-PERCEPTION AND HAPPINESS

Day 49

You gotta love yourself! This self-esteem issue is a biggie! People who have a negative perception of themselves tend to blame it on their education, their up-bringing or their past experiences. Although, it is absolutely undeniable that the way your parents, your siblings, your schoolmates and your teachers behaved towards you has had a big impact on who you’ve become, it is anti-productive, unhelpful and undesirable to dwell on it.

The question is, now that you know the origin of that feeling, what are you going to do about it. I’ve had a pretty sheltered life. But all the same, I have suffered insecurities and I could probably pinpoint the situations and people who triggered it. Once I have identified the source, I’m still stuck with the problem.

Many choices lie ahead of me. I could opt for self-destructive behaviours, for instance, by indulging in drugs, alcohol, food or sex. I can decide to spend my life justifying my negative attitude toward life by blaming all the people who have impacted it in a pejorative way. I can also choose to look at the past so I can learn from it and every day take one or several steps to better my self-image, allowing the occasional drawback.

Being a victim of your negative past experiences does nothing in terms of improving your present life. By focusing on positive accomplishments, whether big or small, past and present and making sure you battle and refuse access to all negative thoughts about yourself, an improved self-perception will emerge and make way to an increased feeling of well-being!

You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” Buddha

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