How to Feel Good About Oneself

 It can be hard to feel good about oneself. We all face times when we criticize ourselves. But some of us criticize ourselves much too much. This can affect our sense of self-esteem, and have us feeling like we are no good. That is a real shame. We are all valuable as individuals, with our own unique qualities. We were made as we are, and it is glorious to celebrate oneself just as you are. 

There are things we can do to help to get us feeling good about ourselves again. The mind can play tricks on a person, and negative thinking can snowball and leave one feeling down in the dumps and like there is something wrong with yourself. But there is nothing wrong with you! You are a human being, with flaws and imperfections like everybody else. We are human, and that means we will make mistakes. We are also not perfect. In fact, perfection does not really exist in the real world. It would be nice if it did. But this is the real world we are in. Mistakes happen and bad things also happen. Life is like a roller coaster, with ups and downs. So we cannot expect perfection of life or of ourselves. That would not be accepting the reality of living in the real world as we do.

So one of the first steps to feeling good about yourself is to remind yourself that we humans are flawed, and that day-to-day life is flawed too. We are imperfect, and life is imperfect. We need to remind ourselves that we are living in the real world, not a dream world. So our expectations cannot be of perfection, or we will be continually disappointed, in ourselves and our life.

Keeping our expectations in line with the realities of real-world living will help us to avoid feeling constantly disappointed in ourselves. We should remind ourselves that we are trying our best. That is what matters in a world of constant uncertainty. When we give ourselves credit for trying our best, we can feel good about ourselves even when things do not go our way. 

We should also remind ourselves that we cannot control everything in our lives. We have only limited control of what happens to us. We can control our efforts, and ensure that we are trying to move forward in our lives toward our needs and wants. But we cannot control the fact that obstacles my arise, blocking our best efforts toward a goal. When this happens, sometimes we may tend to dwell on the problem and our sense of regret. This is a mistake, because it will hamper our future efforts to continue to move forward. When an obstacle comes our way, as it likely will at times, it is best to once more remind ourselves that we are living in the real world where this can and will happen. It happens to everyone at some time or another. The key is not to dwell on the problem, but to focus on how we might be able to move around the obstacle and then to continue on our path to our goal.

Moving toward our goals will increase our sense of self-esteem. Those feelings of accomplishment as we achieve steps toward our goals boosts our sense of confidence. And the fact that we are trying our best is at the heart of feeling good about oneself. It is imperative to keep trying, even in the face of obstacles that life throws your way. Keep keep trying. This will help you to feel good about yourself and not dwell on the problems, but instead to keep your focus on your goals. 

Moving forward in life and making efforts to reach one's goals feels good. It helps a person to stay active, mentally and/or physically. This discourages one from getting caught up in negative thoughts, which are more likely to happen when we stagnate. By focusing on other, positive things, we pull ourselves out of the bucket of negativity that one can fall into. It is easier to avoid negative thinking when one is distracted by healthy, positive activities.

It is important to be aware of one's negative thinking if and when it does start to creep in though. It is better to tackle it head on and nip it in the bud, before it multiplies and drags us down into feeling bad about ourselves. When a negative thought about you creeps in, remind yourself that you are human, and as such you are imperfectly wonderful. It is wrong to pressure yourself by expecting perfection, of yourself or of your life. That thinking can only lead to misery, because it is unrealistic.

Now is the time to say positive statements to yourself, to buoy yourself up and build your sense of self-worth. Remind yourself that you are trying. Remind yourself that it is okay that you are not perfect, that is expected. Remind yourself that you are unique and wonderful, just as you are. It is a great habit to get into, making positive statements to yourself about yourself and your life. This can counteract the habit some of us can fall into of negative thinking. So bathe yourself in positivity, and watch yourself begin to glow with self-esteem!

By being careful to temper your expectations with the constraints of the real world, you will stop setting yourself up for constant disappointment. And by developing a habit of making positive statements to yourself, you will be able to drown out and crush that negative thinking that makes you feel down about yourself. Feeling good about oneself is possible for everyone! It takes some effort on one's part, but it is well worth the effort to rid oneself of that voice that jumps to criticize oneself, which can lead ultimately to feelings of worthlessness.

So make some changes in your thinking, and you can see your sense of self-worth blossom. That wonderful feeling of self-confidence can make your days more enjoyable and also more productive. Negative thinking interrupts our focus on moving forward. It creates its own hurdle blocking us from reaching our goals. By being aware of our negative thinking, and counteracting it with focusing on what we can do to reach our goals, and by replacing it with a habit of positive thinking, we can reduce and even eliminate the negative thinking that diminishes our self-worth.

Everyone has the potential for feeling good about themselves. With time, patience and new habits, self-esteem will grow and confidence bloom!