Wikipedia tells us that self-esteem reflects a person’s overall subjective emotional evaluation of his or her own worth.  It is a judgement of oneself as well as an attitude toward the self.

I believe in today’s society we place to much emphasis on the opinions of other people.  I like this quote by Emerson, “It is easy to live for others, everybody does.  I call on you to live for yourself.”  

There was a time when I worried about what people thought of me.  I would find myself living totally out of my character in hopes that people would like me.  This went on for some time until one day I realized what a fake I was and how unhappy I was, pretending to be someone I wasn’t.  Let’s face it, when you are a red neck, country, hillbilly you can only hide it so long.  I mean you are what you are and you can’t live a lie just to prop up your self-esteem because it won’t last long.

I remember when I was six my dad took me to the barber and had my head practically shaved.  Now this wouldn’t have been so bad for some folks, however I have this curse that hangs over me.  Large, protruding ears.  Now take away the hair and ………OMG all the kids called me “Dumbo” the elephant.  This fiasco did absolutely nothing for my self-esteem.  It was tough but I pulled through and life went on.

“Why should we worry about what others think of us, do we have more confidence in their opinions than we do our own?” – Brigham Young

As I have matured, during my stroll through life, I have learned to appreciate who I am and what I have accomplished.  When ever I see someone belittled or bullied it infuriates me to no end.  I immediately go into “salvage” mode and a lot of times I don’t even wait until the offender leaves Dodge.  I can remember being put down in front of a crowd and everyone just staring where if just one person would have walked up to me and said “that is not true” then gave me a big hug, my confidence level would have never crashed.  Now I am not saying that no one is deserving of a arse chewing.  If I screw up then I have earned everything I get.

What I hate to see is someone that is trying to improve and all they hear is, “you are so stupid”, “you need to just give up”, etc..  What happened to constructive criticism?  We as a society need to develop a bigger heart and the art of kindness.  Unless you are some kind of egotistical maniac, there are going to be times that you question your own self-esteem.

“Social media websites are no longer performing an envisaged function of creating a positive communication link among friends, family and professionals.  It is a veritable battleground, where insults fly from the human quiver, damaging lives, destroying self-esteem and a person’s sense of self-worth.” – Anthony Carmona

I think the above quote pretty much sums up how I feel about today’s social media.  People just don’t seem to care about one another’s feelings.

In closing I want to thank everyone that took the time to read my blog.  Remember to share the love.