A Woman's Guide To Finding Self-Esteem
76LOW SELF ESTEEM AN EPIDEMIC
The day that you can look in the mirror and be happy with what you see, is the day that will set you free . Let's face it too often we are our own worse enemies, zoning in on our flaws, comparing ourselves to others, imagining how much better we will feel if we can only change a certain part of our bodies to what we envision is the ideal image. Often we are our worst critics, as we tend to see ourselves in a exaggerated sense opposed to how the rest of the world actually sees us. Fussing over our thighs, the size of our breasts, the not so tight skin of our abs, the shape of our nose, is a common trait in a majority of women, ranging from mild obsessions to much more serious obsessions such as major eating disorders. Poor self-esteem is a poor foundation to build the framework of our lives upon. Until we can feel happy and content with how we see ourselves, we will never reach that place where we deserve to be.
- Here are some simple truths to wake us up to the illusions that we have carried for so long;
Stars with no make-up
1. THE REALITY THAT STARS ARE NOT PERFECT
Women constantly look towards the media, and often use the beauty of celebrities, to form an image inside their heads as to how the perfect woman should appear to look. Gazing at beautiful women inside the covers of women's magazines, watching gorgeous actresses grace the silver screen, can seem quite daunting at times to the average woman of the world. "If only I looked like that." The media purposely uses this world of 'so-called' perfection, to its full advantage knowing too well the effect these images have upon the public eye.
However even 'magic can be an illusion' and we need to remember that. Stars are polished, powdered, shined, buffed all to create the perfect illusion to sell movies, cars, clothes, diamonds, everything from A to Z in the modern world. Without makeup a lot of stars are ordinary looking women, many with less than perfect complexions, less than perfect bodies than what is portrayed in the world of the competitive media. Every picture that appears in glossy magazines must be edited, smoothed, to hide the wrinkles, acne, varicose veins, yellowing teeth that they don't desire us to see. With surplus money to throw away, they are nipped,cut, surgically enhanced by the finest surgeons in the world at their feet. 'What you see is so often far from what is real'.
2. THE REALITY THAT TRUE BEAUTY DOES NOT EXIST IN LOOKS ALONE
Beauty on the surface fades away with the hands of time where-as true beauty deep inside, remains for all eternity . Have you not heard the expression that even if a woman is truly beautiful on the outside, but her spirit is ugly, she therefore becomes ugly even on the outside?. We have to realise that if anything must be changed, it must first come from within. The way we see ourselves rests heavily upon a positive mind, which is the strongest asset we possess, to perceive the unique special person we really are. Men are attracted to strong confident women, it is a well known fact. Beauty alone can rarely hold someone's attention for long periods of time nor can it compensate for weak attributes that exist inside. Forget about changing what you see on the outside, until you change what is on the inside, or the outer will never be enough to satisty you.
3. THE REALITY YOU CAN EITHER BE A POOR VERSION OF SOME-ONE ELSE OR A RICH VERSION OF YOURSELF
"Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have"......
Let's face it you can never be some-one else, nor would you really want to be, as then you are robbing yourself of who you were born to be . It is so true that it is impossible to fully love some-one else until you love yourself for who you are. When you feel good about yourself, and embrace your self worth, it is so much harder for others to knock you down, push you around, hurt you with their words, as you are able to stand up for yourself, shrug off the criticisms, walk away from some-thing that is hurting you, simply by believing in yourself. Look at yourself as often as you can in front of a mirror, not at your body, but directly into your eyes,and tell yourself that you are worthy, beautiful, deserving, exactly as you are. Start to feel it, think it and believe it. Realise that in this world there is no-one exactly the same as you, appreciate the fact that you are unique upon this Earth. No-one can change the way you see yourself but you. When you have high self esteem, a positive mind, your life changes for the better drastically. Remember there is always some-one to love you for who you are, you don't have to mould yourself to some-one's ideal. If you believe in yourself then those around you will believe in you too.
4. THE REALITY THAT YOU ARE NO LONGER A PRODUCT OF YOUR PAST
"They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself"...Andy Warhol
You have to realise that you do have to live as a product of your past. A painful, difficult, hurtful past is a huge contributor for guilt, anger, lack of self-worth that we carry with us, as we grow into life. The people who can can cut us into pieces the most are often the people we love the most, and often bad relationships can be a major cause for the guilt, pain and low self esteem women carry to the next relationship and so forth. A confident, self- assured woman will not tolerate a man who drags her down while a woman with holds little worth of her value, will be more likely to remain in the relationship, opposed to being alone. There are no rewards for living in misery, but there are a multitude of treasures for woman who strive to move forward.
To begin this positive journey stop putting yourself down. Some women are not even aware they are doing it. Begin by making positive statements about yourself, kick aside the negative. Don't let the criticism or rejection by others towards you take you down a peg. This is something that happens to everyone, determine the difference between constructive criticism and negative, choose what to accept and what to reject. Set yourself reasonable goals and reward yourself as you achieve them, be proud of all you achieve, be all you can be. Life sometimes does not wait..
There was a time in my life I hated myself so badly, that I ended up on death's door with anorexia. Attempting suicide was a regular occurrence in those dark days. Those days are well and truly gone as I look in the mirror with pride these days and never look back. It took time and effort to arrive where I am but boy am I proud to be here.
WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE GIVING UP
Do you know that all your future
Is yours to hold and keep?
Do you know that you can surface
When the waters are too deep?
Do you know that you are lovely?
More lovely than you know,
Release your insecurities,
Allow confidence to grow.
Have you felt sometimes like giving up
When your world starts tumbling in?,
Do you know you have the courage
To stand up strong and win?.
Do you feel the bite of solitude
Do you cry those lonely tears?
Do you know you have the inner strength
To shine throughout your years?.
Do you know that in this world
There is no one quite like you?
You are more worthy than you will ever know,
You need to see it too.
So strive and reach, battle forward,
Lift up your heart with glee,
Shout unto the world today,
I am happy to be me
© Deb Murray 2009
A Quick Little Video I Just Made To Encourage You
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Guilty as charged! Sigh. Great hub.. I'll probaby be back to read it again.. at least twice, tonight alone!
Candie---you rawk. =) Your smile is purdy and your personality is wondershozen.
blonde: thanks...*bows* I try my best. ;)
What a nice hub Deb......I really liked it!!!
You are great, BP - this Hub is excellent and will be inspiration for many.
I love your poem....
And I love to be my own creation of myself...
yes please email me...I want to talk to you too...
Absolutely wonderful and uplifting. This is really important and a great reminder to ourselves.
Very nice hub and very true too. I knoe many of us (women) will take inspiration from this hub of yours. Thanks for writing. I love the poem.
Great going with this one, blonde! I am very fond of the quote "Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have". Kudos to you!
I have to agree with Elena on that...wonderful quote!
BP Dear,
Knowing that it happened to you is proof that the little demons can effect even the best of us. They may just be lurking around the corner or already nibbling away your self-esteem and you wouldn't even know. Thankyou hun for such an inspirational hub! Love ya loads ...:D ... Muwahhhzzz.
P.S. that poem came straight from your heart, it was BEAUTIFUL!
Great advice for women of any age. As for me -- I just want to be a little old lady who smiles. They know all the secrets!
Blondie. You have a pure heart ad that wil always set you apart. You are like the rubber man on a round base, no matter how hard you knock it , it will always come up. You have an irrepressible spirit coupled with that pure heart and a measure of serenity underneath all your manic activity and energy. LOL great hub.
You are a great friend Blonde, and it comes through in your serious writings. Now I think I need some cookies and cream ice cream
You are on fire Deb. Beautiful hub. I'm going to read it again tomorrow because it is full of gems that I need to see. Hugs.
Hi Blondepoet. Wow, this is a wonderful aspiring and empowing hub! The photos of the stars without makeup is a eye opening event. My favorite flower is the pink anthurum because it has it's tongue sticking out.
I like the line you can be a poor version of someone else or a rich version of yourself.
Thanks for this wonderful hub. Many Hugs! xoxoxo
Well said and beautifully written, BP! : )
I guess I was lucky to have a dad that would watch Sport's Illustrated's Swimsuit Edition and point out all the tricks the models used to make themselves look better. He always said that those girls weren't any prettier than his daughters. We didn't always believe him, because he was Dad, but it paid off in the end.
These are beautiful and I think that we all can use them. I know I can.
If you ever feel like you're ugly...just look at your smile and eyes in the mirror and recite: I am beautiful, hear me roar. ;)
Well done BP, excellent hub!
THE REALITY YOU CAN EITHER BE A POOR VERSION OF SOME-ONE ELSE OR A RICH VERSION OF YOURSELF <-- true!
This is a really awesome hub Deb. It can apply to (some) men, except the parts about fussing over the size of our breasts... although if we have them as men we probably do... :)
This is such an amazing hub! You have hit every nail on the head. You have truly captured the definition of self-esteem and self-discovery. Awesome job!
hi BP,here's a cool true short story that illustrates what your saying(i think).fifty two years of marriage,my dad(72) eased up behind my mom(70)and said"lets fool around"(HOLY SHIT!).she said"i don't want sex anymore.why don't you find a pretty young prostitute?I'll even pay for it"(HOLY SHIT AGAIN!).here's the knock out punch BP ,he said"no, your my wife,your beautiful,and i want you".well, i left at that point cause the image of my elderly parents bumping there love toys kinda creep-ed me out...peace...
I agree completely. Women are beautiful because of far more than their looks. I hate it when I see and kind, sweet girl looking down on herself because she doesn't think she's pretty enough. This is a great hub. And I like your poem a lot as well. You covered it all. Thanks!
'The worst phase of your life is.....when you don't understand yourself.' An amazing observation. So true. We always tend to see ourselves from the eyes of those around us which is so wrong. I'm so glad I stumbled on this hub. I would have missed a great deal otherwise. BTW I couldn't believe the picture of katie Holmes. Such a huge difference on and off screen. A brilliant hub. Thats all I can say.
There is no illusion about the beauty you have inside you. To express what you have in this hub shows that even blonde's can be very deep and thoughtful, :)
All kidding aside, it is very refreshing to read such profundity. I guess I should not be suprised, given your proclivity for caring.
BTW, I am blonde as well. :)
I know a lot of women who meet the criteria of superficial beauty and yet when it comes to intellect, drive and goals, they fall short woefully. They call it 'beauty without brains'. As for me, I like a woman with confidence. A woman who knows what she wants and how to get it. Good one, fieryblonde. *thumbs up*
Blonde, or Deb, what a lovely, heart felt hub. I hope tons of people read this and take something from it - beautifully written, it's like a hug for all of us. Hugs to you, dear. Thanks for the encouragement.
I love this hub. How can it possibly not make anyone feel better about themselves and the world?
You write to break people of cynicism and apathy in their own lives. Absolutely wonderful. I will have to show this to some of my friends.
Thanks for sharing.
Blonde, you are da bomb!
Woohooo! Blondepoet you rock! Hope you get better real soon! If I'm shouting it's only because it's great to hear from you.
We miss Blondie! All hail Blondepoet!
The crowd cheers.
"Blondepoet!"
Roses flung high in the air oh the air never smelled so sweet.
Blondepoet, this is a great hub. More women need to read this. When i was much younger i didnt feel too confident about myself, and the parents didnt help much. However, when i became a full grown adult, i decided to have much more confidence in myself. Began to diet, lost a lot of weight and had better skin. I started praising myself for any little achievement or accomplishment, and not wait for anyone to compliment me, or cheer me on.
Now that im much (much) older, i feel cool with myself, and never really give a toss as to what people feel, as long as my human relations is great and i dont step on toes.
Life is too short to waste it on low self esteem.
BTW you're kidding me! do those people in the photos look really like that without make-up? LOL
very nice hub thanks
Hi there Bondepoet, You certainly have hit the nail on the head with this hub. So many people have the image in their heads from a very young age, that if they don't have a pretty or a beautiful face, then they are not beautiful people. That is the start to "low self esteem". If only more were educated at an early age that beauty is more than skin deep, they would have a better understanding of what is important with regard to self image our looks on the outside or what comes from within us.I must admit that I too, had low self esteem for quite some time because I thought that my school mates were prettier than I was. My best friends Helen and Lea, were always dressed better than I was, because their parents had more money than mine did. However, when I studied singing and was accepted into the Queensland Light Opera Company, it lifted my self esteem to the best place that I could have hoped for.As you can see from my profile and hubs, I have had bad health since a young age, which also made it tough in life for me, and I believe that without my singing, I doubt if I would have made it through this far. I have always believed as you said that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Beauty is more than just skin, it is what a person is inside themselves and not how they look on the outside, it is the person they have become that projects through them everytime they open their mouth to speak.What you have written in this hub would certainly help anyone out there who is struggling at the moment with their self image, which is something that many of us have a problem with at a very young age. If it is not dealt with soon it can be the biggest problem and very hard to get under control.I loved you quotations as well, they were just so beautiful, also the lovely pictures that accompanied them, also beautiful.I am happy to become a follow of yours and would like to invite you to visit me on my site also, love from Beautybabe. xx
Hi there Bondepoet, You certainly have hit the nail on the head with this hub. So many people have the image in their heads from a very young age, that if they don't have a pretty or a beautiful face, then they are not beautiful people. That is the start to "low self esteem". If only more were educated at an early age that beauty is more than skin deep, they would have a better understanding of what is important with regard to self image our looks on the outside or what comes from within us.I must admit that I too, had low self esteem for quite some time because I thought that my school mates were prettier than I was. My best friends Helen and Lea, were always dressed better than I was, because their parents had more money than mine did. However, when I studied singing and was accepted into the Queensland Light Opera Company, it lifted my self esteem to the best place that I could have hoped for.As you can see from my profile and hubs, I have had bad health since a young age, which also made it tough in life for me, and I believe that without my singing, I doubt if I would have made it through this far. I have always believed as you said that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Beauty is more than just skin, it is what a person is inside themselves and not how they look on the outside, it is the person they have become that projects through them everytime they open their mouth to speak.What you have written in this hub would certainly help anyone out there who is struggling at the moment with their self image, which is something that many of us have a problem with at a very young age. If it is not dealt with soon it can be the biggest problem and very hard to get under control.I loved you quotations as well, they were just so beautiful, also the lovely pictures that accompanied them, also beautiful.I am happy to become a follow of yours and would like to invite you to visit me on my site also, love from Beautybabe. xx
great hub; I agree; beauty comes from within.
I read this before but may not have left a comment. You know I am so shy. This is a beautiful hub about inward beauty and self appreciation as well as appreciating others. I just wish I could look in your mirror every day instead of mine. Pretty is as pretty does. Thanks
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and if the beholder doesn't see your beauty...tell them to kiss your ass.
Ahh yes once again I think I am reading some well equipped editorial from Vanity Fair or even Cosmo, but no I realize I am once again reading from the online artistry of the one and only blondepoet - and has she gone paparazzi on us now...? Where on earth were you able to collect those drastically different photo ops of each of those poor women.
My goodness poor britney looks like some fool kicked her to the curb after having his way with her all night.
And Anna Kournikova, my god it looks like someone whacked both her and Katie Holmes with a digeridoo...I smell foul play afoot here BP. Give up the ghost, what do you know about this?
What a beautiful article about self-esteem... and so many illustrations. It must have taken you a whole lot of effort to craft it. You say men find confident women sexy, and it is true; but women find self-confident men very attractive as well. Few people love a wimp. lol.
This is the most beautiful Hub it has been my priviledge to both read and view. Congratulations. I now realize just how good a Hub can be when it is placed by a truly gifted and loving person...Wonderful...
Co-incidence (Yes, I know there's no such thing) I'd just finished placing a couple of comments on David Harvey's Hubs when I notice he's also contacted you. Anyway, I'm now going to read a few more.
Once again...a sublime Hub.
cheaptrick's story up there is awesome and reminds me of my marriage. Though we're not in our 60's or 70's, my hubby and I appreciate one another even when the other's self-esteem is waning.
I grew up with a pretty pitiful sense of self and never felt adequate. A pity. But as I age, my man reassures me at my weakest moments, as I do for him. I'm also far more comfortable with myself than ever-even without his 'strokes!' ;)
Lovely, lovely hub.
This article was very well done. Thank you for taking the time to share such positive encouragement. Smile!
What a lovely hub, with a beautiful poem...
good article!nice pictures too!
ALWAYS HAVE A DREAM By BERNARD LEVINE
Follow your heart
to the path of greatness
that lies within you.
The secret of life
is to have something
to look forward to
everyday.
Find a dream that excites you
and make plans
of how you are going
to achieve it.
Feed your mind daily
with positive energy
and words of inspiration.
Take your life to a higher level.
Stay focused and go forward
with your eyes on the prize.
When you run towards your destination
with passion in your heart
you will see your dreams come true.
© Bernard Levine
Who needs a shrink when we have a hubster nurse like you. I've saved a bunch of bucks just reading your hub page. And, between you and I, you probably saved my life. I read this every day.
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lxxy 2 years ago
Thats right...
"The day that you can look in the mirror and be happy with what you see, is the day that will set you free."
I love that line, Blondie. =)
Stars aren't perfect, but their personalities make therm great on the stage--it's called photoshop and post-shoot editing. We're living in a dreamland of plastic expectations.
If I ever settle down with a woman, who will be a person first, it'll be because of her achievements and personality...not her looks. Those change, and are easily malleable.