I believe that it isn't so much self-esteem that we lack as self-respect. I'm not sure I can even articulate the difference but there is one. Somehow, self-esteem seems like how I feel when I'm looking good...and that is a good thing, nothing wrong with it. But self-respect seems like how I feel when I'm doing good...and that almost invariably (of necessity?) means doing good for others.
Maybe that's it...self-esteem is what I feel when I'm doing good for me, self-respect is what I get when I'm doing good for others.
Both are good and worthy things, both necessary to one's inner happiness. I wonder if self-esteem isn't something one feels and holds onto by continuing inner growth; self-respect one builds by making oneself available to God and others...daily.
Which reminds me of an article I read recently about gratitude, about the discipline necessary to keep a grateful attitude which performs a "vital service and benefits everybody." The author wrote, "A selfless man or woman may seem to go through the day doing nothing extraordinary, but without them nothing would revitalize the atmosphere in which we think."
There it is...this is my "vital service, which benefits everybody."
It starts with willingness. Am I willing to go to a board meeting and keep my own thoughts upbeat...not roll my eyes or give mental head slaps or heavy sighs? Am I willing to live the spirit of gratitude?...for it is only by bringing it, releasing it, that I prove I have it.
The question then is, am I willing to be the source of my own happy, joyous and free?
Thank You.
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