Articles
Emotional Freedom
Life Values
• Building Sustainable Self Esteem
By Marie C. Barrett
As we talk about building sustainable self-esteem, we will take a holistic and integrative approach, reaching right into the very heart of who you think you are. I believe you must build your self image from this core level place before any great and uplifting self-esteem can emerge and springboard your life to the success you desire.
The secret to reclaiming your personal power and to begin to live the kind of life for which you were born, is to release all negative self-talk and negative beliefs about your own abilities and worth as a person. How high a value do place on yourself for your own unique characteristics, personality, knowledge, skills and feelings? Do you constantly put yourself down, underestimate your abilities and skills or just not feel good about how you present to others?
To find out what you really believe about yourself, listen to your self-talk when someone is trying to teach you something, or when a smart, beautiful, dynamic person walks into the room. Do you feel comfortable and easy in these and similar situations or do you unconsciously put yourself down and shrink inside?
Unless you have done some deep level self-esteem work, you could probably do with a serious dose of self-confidence and self-appreciation. Cheer up, though, this is quite normal. You will dramatically improve your self-image, as we shall see, but first let's keep with the basics.
As you are reading this article, chances are you have read my book, Holistic Wealth, A Guide to Creative and Joyful Living in which we search for the very core of our being. We ask fundamental questions like:
- Who am I?
- Where did I come from?
- Why am I here?
- Where am I going?
Work out your answers to these questions and you will be in awe of who you are!
Let me give you some ideas. You are a physical embodiment of divine Source Energy. You are a unique person through whom infinite Love wants to experience life in this world and wants to manifest wonderful new creations through you. Understand that you are profoundly powerful, a creative genius, because your energy creates and attracts whatever experiences resonate with your energy vibration. A discussion of the reciprocal Law of Attraction will have to be covered elsewhere, but suffice it to say here, that you get what you think/vibrate about.
If you believe you are not much use, cannot learn quickly, have a whitewashed personality that no-one even notices, then guess what? That is what you will attract. It will become a self-fulfilling thought-wave, your energetic profile . Is this what you want to be your experience? Of course not! Then change what you believe about yourself and begin to stand tall on the inside.
Building self-esteem begins inside your mind. If you come from Source Energy, or God, and you do, you are of the same parent stock: divine Source Energy. You are different only in degree, like a drop of water in the ocean – the drop of water is of the very same essence as the ocean. Once immersed in the ocean, instead of remaining apart and un-integrated, the little drop of water has the power and force of the entire ocean behind it.
This analogy clearly shows where you source your power and how much power is freely available to you should you choose to use it. I said earlier that we would talk about integrating spirituality into our thinking, and now you can see how extremely important and powerful this can be when you come to build up your self-esteem.
Without high self-esteem, you will find a way to sabotage success in every area of your life, but when you build on this strong foundation of spirit-based self perception, you have a power source within that nothing and no-one can take away from you or destroy. You can learn strategies to increase your self esteem, bad these will be different for everyone, but they must build on awareness of your essential oneness with Source Energy.
So be like that drop in the ocean and harness the energy of the ocean of your Source. No matter what your earlier life story may be, the past does not have to determine your future. You can change what ever you see in yourself and your attitudes and behaviors that no longer serve your higher self perception. Treat yourself with respect and others will unconsciously notice your new vibration and treat you differently too.
Treat others with respect and love, coming from your base of inner power, and they will respond in like ways. Be the person you want to become, starting today. You are the powerful, spiritual person behind your eyes. Remember this when you walk into a room full of people, for they are other incarnate spirit beings too. They may not yet understand their true status, but by meeting you and seeing your self-confidence and love, they will feel greater self worth because of you. This is a tremendous gift that you can give to others.
We will discuss elsewhere on this website how to build self esteem through creating a vision for your future, how to plan for and achieve success, how to create fulfilling relationships and many other empowering life skills. But what ever skills you use to build your self-esteem, build on the solid foundation of your core being. I salute you and encourage you to become whatever you want to be. You are limited only by the limits you set up for yourself. Life has no limits, so live it to the full.
