Читать книгу The Road to Resilience - Adam Przytula - Страница 19

Just remember, if you're struggling with low self‐esteem, it's not your fault. It's not because you are a ‘bad person’. It's not because you were born with the self‐esteem ‘part’ of you missing.

If you have low self‐esteem, it means that, right at this moment in time, you aren't feeling too crash hot about yourself. And that's okay! Self‐esteem is something we can work on and improve.

As humans, I believe we are born with two ingrained psychological needs: we need to feel loved, and we need to feel like we belong.

If we don't get these needs met (at home and at school) when we're growing up, it can be really hard to develop healthy self‐esteem. When I was a kid, I didn't understand why I felt angry all the time. Although I knew Mum and Dad loved me, it didn't feel like I was part of a loving family because of all the fighting going on. When I was getting bullied at school, I thought it was because there was something wrong with me. I thought I was an outcast, a freak. I didn't feel loved, or like I belonged, at home or at school. Now I realise that I wasn't unique. Lots of other students go through similar things to what I went through, and far worse. Resilience is about being able to bounce back from the problems we face, and if we don't feel valuable, it's impossible to overcome life's challenges.

So, how do we start working on improving our self‐esteem? Here are some tools you can use to help build your self‐esteem:

 Change the way you think.

 Be self‐aware.

 Choose your friends and relationships wisely.

 Be grateful.

 Talk to someone.

 Change your lifestyle.

Let's take a look at each of these tools in more detail.