Low or high self esteem?

Thank you squaretile for that wonderful response. I follow God, too but I have never relied on him to guide me through life in that extreme...it just doesn't seem like living when you go through life with no insecurities. I mean what would be the point of living anyway? Granted, I hate feeling down on myself due to superficial reasons and the like but exactly how does your rendition of God keep you from feeling this way? I'm not knocking God because like I said, I follow God, too, but I'm really curious to know how to deal with this. taking Gods ways to heart, do you yourself tell yourself over and over again that God loves you and it takes your insecurities away just like that? I'm really interested to know how you handle things like this on a daily basis and look forward to your response.

Kudos to you redkathy!!! I truly don't think looks are that important either as long as the person has good hygeine, however, I admire people that have such a high regard of themselves and want to know how to obtain that for myself. One step to doing this is to find out what other people think. We all rate someone at some point in time for whatever reason and it seems through media and such, people (mainly females) are stereotyped. It's hard for females to keep a positive attitude these days about what is acceptable and what others see that you don't, vice versa.

At your age gloamglozer, I admire you for that. When I was 16, I was shy but didn't really think about my self-esteem. I thought about my looks but not on a negative standpoint and certainly not conceited. Thanks for your post :)

You are close to my age, so maybe you can relate...do you feel that you have lower self-esteem or self-worth, rather in the form of looks or otherwise, now that you are older compared to when you were say...not quite 30?

I just wanted to let everyone know who posted that I have thought about our discussion. it's true that unhealthy criticism and judgement has been instilled in me by family members and close friends which has caused me to judge others and comparing them to myself. My desire is to have higher self esteem and I have become envious of the ones that do have that for themselves. I have come to realize, with everyone's help here, that i am my own worse enemy and have made my own prison, so-to-speak. Throughout my life, until the last couple of years, I was always the type of person to look within instead of without but let the ignorance of others change that trait in me. As a lesson learned, i promise God, myself and most especially my daughter, that every time I look in the mirror and see my flaws, i will replace them with the beauty that I have within. I will hold my head up high in public and claim my right to be here just as everyone else has that right, no matter how we look or dress, or if we are likable by all or none. And of course I will treat everyone with the same respect. God Bless all of you for taking the time to post your comments and helping a stranger shed light on her own securities.