self esteem by Virginia Satir

[Guest guest]

We must not allow other people's limited perceptions to define us.

self esteem

I am Me. In all the world, there is no one else exactly like me. Everything that

comes out of me is authentically mine, because I alone chose it -- I own

everything about me: my body, my feelings, my mouth, my voice, all my actions,

whether they be to others or myself. I own my fantasies, my dreams, my hopes, my

fears. I own my triumphs and successes, all my failures and mistakes. Because I

own all of me, I can become intimately acquainted with me. By so doing, I can

love me and be friendly with all my parts. I know there are aspects about myself

that puzzle me, and other aspects that I do not know -- but as long as I am

friendly and loving to myself, I can courageously and hopefully look for

solutions to the puzzles and ways to find out more about me. However I look and

sound, whatever I say and do, and whatever I think and feel at a given moment in

time is authentically me. If later some parts of how I looked, sounded, thought,

and felt turn out to be unfitting, I can discard that which is unfitting, keep

the rest, and invent something new for that which I discarded. I can see, hear,

feel, think, say, and do. I have the tools to survive, to be close to others, to

be productive, and to make sense and order out of the world of people and things

outside of me. I own me, and therefore, I can engineer me. I am me, and I am

Okay.