Self-esteem is a Verb
People think Self-esteem is a noun. "I don't have very much self-esteem." It's not. It's a verb. Self - esteem mean you esteem your self. First, in childhood, your parents esteem you. Or they should. Parents tell a child they are valuable and esteemable. Then the child internalizes it. If this didn't happen adequately for you, take heart, it didn't for most of us. That is not a life sentence. You don't have to have the level of self-esteem you had in childhood, or adolescence, for a lifetime. If you want to remain a victim of your history, the choice is yours; but no one (but you) has to give you permission to esteem yourself. That may come as a surprise. Actually there are a lot of societal messages against good self-esteem. "Don't be a braggart." Some families have loyalty binds requiring one or more children to have worse self-esteem than one or both parents; this is often true in families effected by addiction. If you feel tha