Ask yourself today.. “What kind of person do you really want to be?”Writing this in the form of a individual mission statement or as a diary entry has a powerful effect on your mental health and your self-esteem.
Writing it down helps to concentrate the words and thoughts that we have, and the very act of writing that you want to be “kind” and “compassionate” and “caring” motivates positive action.
The question “What kind of person am I ?” Is answered by the way you speak to others and what you do for them.
For a healthy self-esteem and good mental health, you also need to remember that you are unique.
You’re Unique!
One of the major causes of low self-esteem is, comparing ourselves to others.
We get caught up in the bubble of thinking that you don’t measure up or you’ll never be like so and so, or the one that really hits home, ‘your just not good enough.’
Today, we live in a society that reveres fame and fortune, and many will hero worship celebrities, constantly comparing ourselves with others and trying to be like certain celebrities in how they look and act (ask the hairdressers in the area!) The truth is, you are the only person in the world who is exactly you.
God, has not made anyone else like you. Only you have your unique genetic makeup and your unique life circumstances. No one alive now, and no-one who ever lived before, and no-one who will ever live in the future, was, is, or will be, just like you.
You are the only person in the world with your unique positive qualities and challenges. You are the only person in the world who has your particular life vocation and mission path.
Psalm 139:13–16 (New Living Translation (NLT)
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvellous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
You, like everyone else alive right now, are a work in progress. You have a multitude of positive choices that you can make throughout each and every day.
So lets all choose to live well! Choose positive thoughts, words, and actions. With every positive choice you make, you build yourself. So, we need to keep making those positive choices, and you need to remember you are also important!
Considering yourself important is an essential mindset and one that’s often lacking in today’s society. Feeling good about yourself is a basic human need. Knowing your inner strengths and positive qualities enables you to use them over and over again.
You see, Gods commandment was love others as yourself and its really important to try and do this. We need to acknowledge our past, remembering the accomplishments and the achievements that we have had a long the way. By doing this, it will help you to have a happier life and enables all of us to continue to accomplish and achieve much more.
Your self-esteem helps you to have a better quality of life.”
As you build your “self”, you will have a greater positive influence on the self-outlook of others. As I have said already it’s no wonder that God gives us the commandment to ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.” Mark 12:31
So, the way you view yourself, is the same way you’ll always view or treat others. If you view yourself as a failure or a no body, if you constantly listen to that little niggling doubt then I’m afraid that sadly, you’re going to seek out and see those around you as failures too.
It takes an entire lifetime to live your life.
Building your self-esteem is also lifelong process its something we all battle with, including me!
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela
Throughout your life there will be events that will build your self-esteem, while other experiences do the opposite. The positive and elevated thoughts, words, and actions that you think, say, and do, are all part of the process of building your self-esteem.
But what ever happens, whatever you feel about yourself today you need to remember this one thing….
You are Loved! - God loves each person, far more than each person can love themselves.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD . “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
Hope... that’s a powerful word and knowing God loves each and everyone of us is a powerful message for our self-image and our mental well-being.
I am a person who God, loves and considers valuable, Very Valuable.
Why? Because He has a plan for my life.
It’s a great and a better plan and because He sent his Son to show us the way.
Try building Your Self-Esteem and your mental well-being just one step at a time.
It is important to try and improve ourselves a small bit every day, because it takes work! I’m afraid there is no way to make quick progress; faith, and becoming what God intended for us, is a journey that takes time, and its certainly not a sprint to the finished product. I only wish it was.
The daily question to ask yourself is: “What small improvement can I make now?”
Every time you get to know yourself better in any way, you build up your self-esteem.
You will become someone who is gaining more and more control over their emotions and actions all the time. Every time you have the emotional self-control to do something that you find difficult to do, you build up your self-esteem and mental well-being. Every time you refrain from saying or doing something then you will build up your self-esteem.
It’s important to get to know who you are…Do something out of the ordinary from your usual routine, something you were afraid of doing before. Some people find mindfulness helps, that’s something we are teaching presently at St Cuthberts, and it helps a great deal of people in the world to improve their mental health and well-being in a structured way. Helping us to become present to the moment that where in. Checking our emotions and body and reducing our stress levels.
Some will keep a journal and that’s another great way to see and note down your blessings each day, in fact seeing the positive in black and white can really help.
Some will use blessing jars to the same effect. (place a marble in a jar every time you feel something positive or write a note, and then place in jar, then open the jar each month or year (if you can wait that long!))
Write down your successes and your positive actions and thoughts. Get to know your strengths and the things that have been positive and focus on them. Don’t be afraid to try.
“In order for people to be happy, sometimes they have to take risks. It’s true these risks can put them in danger of being hurt.” – Meg Cabot
As Arrow says in the TV show – “To beat fear, you have to become the fear” which is a nonsense way of saying by facing fear courageously then fear can have no power over you.”
Courage isn’t being heroic, Courage is being afraid and taking a leap of faith, or a positive step, even though we may feel frightened.
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill
“ For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. ” 2 Timothy 1:7
So, go on do something positive today, and remember always that God loves you!
God bless Laura x