Do you focus on your flaws and failures, rather than your positive attributes and accomplishments? Low self-esteem can result in a distorted self-image that can feed depression.
Most people feel bad about themselves from time to time. Temporary feelings of low self-esteem may be triggered by being treated poorly by someone else recently or in the past, or by a person's own judgments of him or herself. Low self-esteem is a constant companion for too many people, especially those who experience depression.
If you go through life feeling bad about yourself needlessly, low self- esteem keeps you from enjoying life, doing the things you want to do, and working toward personal goals.
To improve your self-image, try making lists, rereading them often, and rewriting them from time to time. The process will help you to feel better about yourself. If you have a journal, you can write your lists there. If you don't, any piece of paper will do.
Make a list of :
*At least 5 of your strengths, for example, persistence, courage, friendliness, creativity
*At least 5 things you admire about yourself, for example, the way you have raised your children, your good relationship with someone in your family, or your spirituality
*The 5 greatest achievements in your life so far, like recovering from a serious illness, graduating from high school, or learning to use a computer
*At least 20 other accomplishments --- they can be as simple as learning to tie your shoes, to getting an advanced college degree
*10 ways you can "treat" or reward yourself that don't include food and that don't cost anything, such as walking in woods, window- shopping, or chatting with a friend
*10 things you can do to make yourself laugh
*10 things you could do to help someone else
*Things that you do that make you feel good about yourself
~from www.everydayhealth.com
Check out the Orange County ACA website at: Orange County Adult Children
2 comments:
Thank you. Really, thank you. I had begun to do some of these things but not at a great enough extent. I did not realize that I was helping myself. Oddly enough it started with a paper I had to write on Alcoholism and the effects on family. As I read through the articles on the effects I began to remember horrible things and suddenly realized just how badly it affected my life. As I sit here with tears running down my face I can only dream of hope that I can reverse the affects my mother put on me as a child.
I love this article- because its simple and straightforward. It reminds me of my early recovery which began over 20 years ago. --Back then I did these "little" things on a consistent basis and they were instrumental in my emotional and mental healing.---Its so easy to lose focus and go back to "old" ways of functioning which DO NOT work. Thank God for ACA and this site as well. Its the "little" things that REALLY matter.
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