The Standard

September 14 to 20 2014
THE STANDARD STYLE / FAMILY / EDUCATION 21
Raising Your
Self Esteem
Edson Chivandikwa
Self-esteem is a significant aspect of one’s wholeness.
Teenage years are a period of the development
of a self-concept and identity formation.
Low self-esteem can cause a lot of complications
in these determinative years and even prolong into
adulthood. Self-esteem refers to the evaluation of
oneself; it is about how one feels valued, accepted and
loved by those around him or her. It is not a fixed identity
but can transform as situations change.
Causes of low self-esteem
Low self-evaluation can be a product of criticism or
ridicule by parents, siblings, friends, peers or authority
figures. On the other hand, it can emanate from
self-criticism and self-inflicted degradation. Belittling
oneself, especially in comparison with others can
erode one’s self-image. Setting unrealistic expectations
for ourselves can also have an abrasion effect on
our self-esteem if we fail to meet those expectations.
Sometimes we want to achieve unrealistic feats when
we clearly do not have the requisite qualities to match
those exploits.
Consequences of low self-esteem
Those who suffer from low esteem usually feel upset
about themselves and others, depending on who they
blame for the situation. In most cases, one’s self-care
declines and thinking narrows and focuses on the
negative.
What can be done to restore self-esteem?
First one needs to identify the triggers to low self-esteem.
These triggers may be situational (for example
the presence or absence of some people). Those who
suffer from low self-esteem need to adjust their selfimage,
especially when their expectations of themselves
are too high and unrealistic. Most significantly
they need to know themselves and their potentialities
and peg their targets realistically.
A common problem with low self-esteem people is that
they unnecessarily compare themselves with others.
This should be avoided since it is self-defeating. Instead
of comparing oneself with others, one should
concentrate on self-care: good health excellent appearance
and a healthy mind and self-assertiveness. Low
self-esteem people should use the assertive “I” to express
what you feel, think, want and see. They must
not allow themselves to be abused or demeaned; they
should boldly say no.
Remember: self-esteem is learnt within social situations;
it is not inherited. You can transform it!
Motivational
for new term
As the new term starts, whether you’re a student, a teacher or a parent. you
may need some motivation to get off to a good start:
1. “Learn as much as you can while you are young, since life becomes too
busy later.” - Dana Stewart Scott
2. “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change
the world.” - Nelson Mandela
3. “Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to
acquire it.” - Albert Einstein
4. “He who opens a school door, closes a prison.” - Victor Hugo
5. “You learn something every day if you pay attention.” - Ray LeBlond
6. “You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you
educate a generation.” - Brigham Young
7. “The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.” -
Sydney J. Harris
8. “Intelligence plus character -- that is the goal of true education.”
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
9. “Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time
to time that nothing worth knowing can be taught.” - Oscar Wilde
10. “The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living differ
from the dead.” - Aristotle
11. “The difference between school and life? In school, you’re taught a
lesson and then given a test. In life, you’re given a test that teaches you
a lesson.” - Tom Bodett
12. “Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the
people who prepare for it today.” - Malcolm X
13. “Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.” - Edmund
Burke
14. “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
- W.B. Yeats
15. “School prepares you for the real world... which also bites.” - Jim Benton
16. “I’m not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school
like I did.” - Yogi Berra
17. “What is the most important thing one learns in school? Self-esteem,
support, and friendship.” - Terry Tempest Williams
18. “Give a bowl of rice to a man and you will feed him for a day. Teach him
how to grow his own rice and you will save his life.” -- Confucius
19. “In a school community, someone who reads a book for some secretive
purpose, other than discussing it, is strange. What was she reading for?”
- John Irving
20. “Just don’t take any class where you have to read BEOWULF.”
- Woody Allen
www.latintimes.com/back-school-quotes-20-motivational-sayings