NationStates Jolt Archive

If self esteem is how a person rates themself, then they will have high self esteem if they rate themselves well and poor self esteem if they rate themselves badly. But I don't think that rating yourself is helpful activity to engage in. None of us are intriniscally good or bad, we are all just fallible human beings. We shouldn't rate ourselves but just accept ourselves as human, neither good nor bad. It is our acts that we should rate as good or bad, not ourselves.

Rather than encourageing self esteem in children I think it is more important to teach them acceptance of themselves and others as fallible humans and to give them the skills to determine if their acts are good or bad, helpful or self defeating.

If self esteem is how a person rates themself, then they will have high self esteem if they rate themselves well and poor self esteem if they rate themselves badly. But I don't think that rating yourself is helpful activity to engage in. None of us are intriniscally good or bad, we are all just fallible human beings. We shouldn't rate ourselves but just accept ourselves as human, neither good nor bad. It is our acts that we should rate as good or bad, not ourselves.

Rather than encourageing self esteem in children I think it is more important to teach them acceptance of themselves and others as fallible humans and to give them the skills to determine if their acts are good or bad, helpful or self defeating.

sounds good to me. I never understood why we had to think we were great at everything anyway.

I am not beautiful. see? I can admit it, and you know what it doesn't even bother me. However, just by saying that people say "oh, you have low self esteem" or "of course you are beautiful"

I am not. It doesn't matter. I can be honest with myself, why is that such a big problem?

I am fair at singing. I am happy about that.

I am a human, imperfect, I make mistakes, I sometimes do things that are stupid and make decisions that are harmful. I am not great, I am me.

I think its important to know your strengths and weaknesses.

I think its important to know your strengths and weaknesses.

What about those of us who don't have any weaknesses? :D

sounds good to me. I never understood why we had to think we were great at everything anyway.

I am not beautiful. see? I can admit it, and you know what it doesn't even bother me. However, just by saying that people say "oh, you have low self esteem" or "of course you are beautiful"

I am not. It doesn't matter. I can be honest with myself, why is that such a big problem?

I am fair at singing. I am happy about that.

I am a human, imperfect, I make mistakes, I sometimes do things that are stupid and make decisions that are harmful. I am not great, I am me.

I think you may be missing the point of self esteem... I don't think having high self esteem means you are necessarily lying to yourself, simply that you recognize your own self worth, whatever that may be. So if you don't think you are beautiful, but are not bothered by that, it doesn't mean you have low self esteem. If you are happy about what you are good at, and untroubled by what you are not, then you have good self esteem.

And I think it is important to encourage that in children... to help them feel good about what they do well. Not to delude them that they are perfect, but to promote a feeling of self worth for the right reasons.

What about those of us who don't have any weaknesses? :D

You can be one of those people under the weaknesses section who put - "I have to do everything perfectly" or "I'd too competative to ever give up on something". :D

Self esteem is silly anyway. I just do activities that make me feel happy...yes happy... *A manical grin forms on Tau's face*

Self esteem is about approving of yourself in some way or other. As such it is essential to all moral behaviour. The only reason why anyone would act selflessly in any situation is that they approve of such behaviour, and if they were not to evaluate and seek to approve of their own behaviour they would not act in such a way.

Why give to charity if you do not think that giving to charity is good. Even if you do think it is good, but however you do not judge your own actions then thewre is no reason to give to charity. It is only when your own self image comes into play that you have any reason to be charitable.

So self-esteem is an essential concept to any form of moral life.

And I think it is important to encourage that in children... to help them feel good about what they do well. Not to delude them that they are perfect, but to promote a feeling of self worth for the right reasons.

I sort of disagree on the technical point that if you encourage children to feel good about what they do well, then how do you stop them feeling bad about what they do badly? We should be careful not to encourgae self rating and just rate consequences.

But if people want to feel good about themselves for no reason at all, just for being alive, I have no problem with that.

Self-esteem isn't being an arrogant, egotistical prat, it;s accepting who you are and being confident about yourself, while acknowledging that you're far from perfect.

I know I'm not the best looking person, but, at least I have a clean look and a nice face, bit, I have a better type of beauty; my inner one and I value my mind.

Self-esteem is feeling good about yourself and having a strong, inner will.

Accepting ourselves as fallible human beings is exactly what self-esteem is, or what it's supposed to be. It's not about being perfect and never making mistakes, it's simply about believing we are good enough the way we are, flaws and all.

For example, i'm not beautiful, though i'm not ugly, and there are plenty of things i'm not good at, such as math. On the other hand, i know i'm intelligent, funny, kind and that i have a good sense of humour. I also know there are things i'm great at, such as writing.

My flaws don't bother me, we all have them, and though i'm proud of my virtues and my talents, i don't think they make me better then anyone else. I believe in my self, most of the time, that is the essence of self-esteem.

Admitting you make mistakes doesn't mean you have low self-esteem. Thinking you are a horrible person because you make mistakes does.

If self esteem is how a person rates themself, then they will have high self esteem if they rate themselves well and poor self esteem if they rate themselves badly. But I don't think that rating yourself is helpful activity to engage in. None of us are intriniscally good or bad, we are all just fallible human beings. We shouldn't rate ourselves but just accept ourselves as human, neither good nor bad. It is our acts that we should rate as good or bad, not ourselves.

Rather than encourageing self esteem in children I think it is more important to teach them acceptance of themselves and others as fallible humans and to give them the skills to determine if their acts are good or bad, helpful or self defeating.

Oh, someone needs a hug.

What about those of us who don't have any weaknesses? :D

I suggest working on modesty, personally.

self esteem is a misleading term. its not about how good you think you are, its about how happy you are with yourself. people who are kickass and know it can still have low self esteem, while losers can be perfectly happy.

If self esteem is how a person rates themself, then they will have high self esteem if they rate themselves well and poor self esteem if they rate themselves badly. But I don't think that rating yourself is helpful activity to engage in. None of us are intriniscally good or bad, we are all just fallible human beings. We shouldn't rate ourselves but just accept ourselves as human, neither good nor bad. It is our acts that we should rate as good or bad, not ourselves.

Rather than encourageing self esteem in children I think it is more important to teach them acceptance of themselves and others as fallible humans and to give them the skills to determine if their acts are good or bad, helpful or self defeating.
Oh. Great. Now you tell me.
*goes away humming 'I'm just a sucker with no self-esteem...'*

I guess my problem is that not only do I have very low self-esteem but at the same moment a very high self-awareness. That's a deadly combination. Gets ya down a lot *nods*
Sometimes I wonder if I'd be happier if I were a little dumber...