Self esteem can be described as confidence in ones own abilities and values. It doesn’t necessarily mean you feel you are fab at everything and better than everyone else. It simple means you are happy and content in your own skin with a willingness to take on new challenges in life, big or small.
Although straightforward in definition it is amazing how many of us suffer from low self esteem. I think for Mothers it happens quite a bit. We have our first child, put on some weight, engross ourselves completely into Motherhood, eat on the run and continue to focus on rearing our child and not enough time on ourselves. At some point we take a look in the mirror and see an overweight, dishevelled version of ourselves and feel dismay and disappointment in what we see.
And so the spiral begins ….
Although we all suffer from an element of low self esteem in our lives, problems develop when our self-esteem plummets so low it stops us doing things.
‘I’m not going to that meeting, as no-one cares what I have to say’
‘I’m just going to stay in this track suit, my husband doesn’t look at me anyway’
‘I’m not going to try for that job because I just won’t get it’
Low self esteem is a habit we develop and the comforting thing is that it is one we can kick ! There are many simple strategies that can help and over the next few blogs I will explain some.
