Self-Esteem

Today's blog is prompted by walking past my bulletin board on the way to throw in another load of laundry. On this bulletin board I put things I want to read often or things I don't want to forget. And this is the real thing people, I know crazy concept, a real bulletin board that I "pin" things on! Our world has gone so Pinterest crazy lately! Let's not forget to really live our lives, not just virtually! Don't get me wrong I like Pinterest and I waste lots of time looking and pinning, but lets keep the balance in our lives to what's really important and prioritize. So back to today's subject, I walked by my bulletin board and on it I had pinned a plain piece of lined paper that I had written the words all so long ago. By Naomi Wolf:"A mother who radiates self-love and self acceptance actually vaccinates her daughter against low self-esteem". I think I got this from an episode of Oprah a very long time ago, but I thought the words profound! I have always felt pretty confident in myself. I feel I have talents and gifts and also weaknesses and failures. But having 2 little girls has made me ponder what causes or contributes to low self-esteem as I want them to love themselves and appreciate their God given gifts and talents. I know children often learn by example, not always what we try to teach them but what example we are showing. In what tone and with what words do we speak when we talk to ourselves? Are we loving ourselves? Are we forgiving of our failures or short comings? Is our evaluation of our own worth positive? What is our evaluation of ourselves and what are we saying or doing while our children are at our feet? Do we stand at the mirror and say how fat we look in this outfit? Do we say I look so ugly today? Do we say how dumb we are? I hope we don't, if not for our own self-esteem, do it for your kids! They need to see you loving and accepting yourselves so they can learn to do the same. Remember self-esteem is not based on facts, it is our own overall evaluation of our worth, and what we believe to be true about ourselves! I've always loved the use of "vaccinate" in that saying because it is an action word, something that you can do to help your children learn to love themselves! I often wonder if my girls "get" what I'm trying to teach them, so the day after I wrote this post my 1st grader brought home her writing journal from school, in it she says she likes and loves herself, this made me smile from ear to ear!