Dear WWW, How do I cure my low self-esteem?

Dear WWW,

What are some suggestions you have for someone who is suffering from terribly low self-esteem?

Signed, Low Self-Esteem

Dear Low Self-Esteem,

Self-esteem is how you feel about yourself.  It’s your overall assessment of yourself and how much you feel you’re worth.  It includes beliefs about yourself, like “I am a worthy young woman,” or “I am fabulous.”  It also includes things like victory, pride and shame.  Self-esteem can be a positive or negative assesment.  We, the “G-Force” aka “Girl Force,” the Spring 2012 Women Wonder Writer team in Moreno Valley have some ideas if you’re having low self-esteem; because my gosh, we all know we’ve all suffered from it before and will suffer from it in the future.  First, fake it!  Try waking up and putting a smile on your face, even if you’re feeling down.  Sometimes, positive real energy will start flowing from what you pretend at first.  Second, try talking to someone about how you feel, take a leap of faith and put your trust in someone, because maybe just getting it out and hearing someone else relate to you can help your self-esteem.  Do you have someone you trust and won’t make you feel judged, but will just listen?  Seek them out!  Third, search for what quality inside of you is beautiful and embrace that.  Everyone is beautiful, in their own unique way; not physically perfect, but has some quality that makes them beautiful.  Know what that is and if you’re searching for it, write down, “the things that make me special are…” or “people compliment me on …”   and start writing away.  Fourth, find out what you’re really good at and do that thing.  For example, if you’re good at writing, write.  If you’re good at baking, bake.  If you’re good at guitar, play!  If you’re good at singing, do it at the top of your lungs!  Fifth, write a list of 10 things that make you happy and pick one from the list when you’re feeling low and DO IT!  Make yourself do it.  Last, set a small goal, write it down, acccomplish it, and write a big check mark next to it!  It can be as small as making your bed or telling a friend, “you’re a great freind.”  Or it can be bigger like filling up a page of your journal.  Achieving small goals can boost your self-esteem.  We hope these ideas boost some positive self-esteem!  Write us back and let us know what you think.

May The G-Force be with you,

G-Force (WWW-Moreno Valley, CA)