"If you could choose just one characteristic to help you face life"s challenges, positive self-esteem would be a really good choice. It would help you in all areas of life, such as with school, romantic relationships, developing friendships, job interviews, career challenges, and feeling secure about trying new things in life.Self-esteem is a measure of how much you value yourself. Qualities that naturally manifest from healthy self-esteem include self-confidence, self-worth, and self-respect. Put simply, when your self-esteem is solid you feel good about yourself. You also feel entitled to enjoy your life. When self-esteem is strong, it"s easier to accept flaws in yourself and others this leads to greater acceptance and compassion for yourself and others.Low self-esteem, on the other hand, can be very painful and a significant disadvantage in all areas of life. Ironically, arrogance, egotism, and narcissism do not come from having too much self-esteem, but rather too little. Without feeling a healthy sense of value from within, low self-esteem can lead to seeking and/or reliance on other"s approval and admiration to feel worthy.Shame is an emotion that is often underlying low self-esteem. Shame can be described as an inner sense of inferiority or defectiveness. In exploring shame, it"s useful to compare it to guilt. Guilt is a focus on your behavior "I did something bad." Shame is a focus on your sense of self - "I am bad." Shame leads to feeling unworthy of love, belonging, or acceptance. Shaming in childhood - by parents, teachers, peers, or other important people is a common source of low self-esteem."
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