Karani

I am a 23 years old girl. I am doing my Masters in Human Development and Family studies, I have finished all courses and now a days I am working on thesis & research papers. I am considered an intelligent and sincere student of my college and this year I score highest marks. This was the brighter side of my personality but on the other hand the bitter truth is that one of my leg got affected by polio when I was 1 year old, and I identified myself handicapped from the moment I started understanding this world. I faced lots of challenges from childhood; teasing, labeling, and mental harassment (generally called sympathy of well-wishers’)…etc were very common and it almost spoiled my childhood and school life experiences. In college my colleagues are very cooperative but due to my crippling situation I was almost out of normal life which college girls usually have (flirting, dating etc). So I can say my life is a bit different from others.

Again looking on the golden side God blessed me with lots of good friends and some of my best buddies and love of course. But due to my childhood experiences and self-created shell I lack confidence in social situations. I was a good achiever in written competitions but it was a big havoc for me to face any live stage presentation. I collapsed so many times in oral presentations, and that period was really a dark phase of my life.

Since last year I tried to get rid of this situation and luckily I found you when I was searching "self concept" (my area of research in master’s dissertation). Every week I use to go through your inspiring matterial and to be very honest I feel a kind of connectedness with you, that’s why I am writing this. You will be happy to know that as per my own assessment and my best buddies’ observation I improved a lot in my presentation skills and even I organized workshops in speech communication with my colleagues.

I really would like to thank you for helping me in overcoming that challenge of my life. The most inspiring line for me was "Start challenging yourself to move forward and don't be scared to make mistakes, everyone does in the process of learning."

Helmata

I have decided to stay positive because you are who you say you are and not who circumstances say you are. I stand tall and trust God that I will definitely get where I want to be. I believe in myself. Above all I have learnt to accept the things I can't change and to change those that I can because after all no amount of worrying can add a single second to your life. God bless you."

- M.Fideline

"I can say I'm now at a curtain stage I never thought I could reach im my self. I grew up without a father, (I never knew him), and this used to affect me a lot. There is a part I read on your website which said, "low self esteem feeds on negative thoughts". Its very true and it has helped me. Thank you, all the negative thoughts are over."

- Lydiah

Check out the e-book that will change your life: Self Esteem Secrets

On my journey I had to first learn to be alone.

Sometimes we focus on others more than we focus on ourselves. We forget who we are, what we like and we become the people we are surrounded by. Being alone helped me to find ME... it helped me to find inner strength.

I no longer seek validation from others. I have a closer relationship with God because I prayed for spiritual growth. Spiritual growth should be the first thing we seek in order to have good self esteem. I believe a lot of the time we as people are lost because we don’t know what we believe in. So I encourage self esteem seekers to find what it is that they believe in and learn more about it. We all need to believe in something because that gives us FAITH and with faith we can trust that our journey will have a positive outcome.

Our minds are our own worst enemy. Once we can control our thoughts we can continue to grow. As a self esteem seeker, I made a decision not to be a creature of habit because when we are creatures of habit we go back to the very same thing that hurt us and caused self esteem issues... I changed my thoughts, habits and I demand respect."

- Latronda

"It appears individuals with disabilities have low-self esteem but having listened to your messages, I've tried to overcome my own low self-esteem as a blind person. There was always this feeling that people won't listen to me or even want to be friends with me. I now see myself as someone people should long to befriend I no longer bother myself whether they like me or not. I've also been sharing your messages on my radio program."

"Nothing is impossible; the word itself says, "I'm possible!"
 

- Philomena

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