Aspire Magazine: Inspiration for a Woman's Soul.(TM) Feb/Mar 2017 Aspire Mag Full Issue | Page 47

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What if your pain is your access point to your purpose ? What if your suffering is the conduit to your soul ’ s calling ?
For me , this journey has led me down a road of helping others who believe they are not enough . Depression , anxiety , eating disorders , self-hate , and self-neglect may be ruling your life like it did mine . Questions run through most of our minds , like : Are you thin enough yet ? Smart enough ? Tall ? Pretty ? Enough money in your bank account ? Are you enough to pursue your dream ?
Sooner or later it seems we all entertain the idea that we aren ’ t enough . The problem isn ’ t that it only happens once or even twice . It can be so ingrained in our psyche that our self-esteem is annihilated . Like cancer , it can spread quickly and dangerously .
Afflicting most everyone in the world at one time or another , a negative self-image affects our energy and our spirit . Quickly , it can conquer every area of our lives . It can take down a person ’ s whole world . Even entire families and generations . We crave something and look everywhere for it . We become desperate , seeking fulfillment in other people , food , drugs , work , anything and everything , attempting to dull the pain of not enough and never succeeding .
Maybe you ’ re going through a divorce , or maybe you detest yourself . Been there , done that . Sometimes not believing you ’ re enough comes out as anger , depression , lack of self-care , fear , feeling worthless , or people-pleasing . I know exactly how you feel , and lived through it to tell tales . Those days when you loathe yourself so much that you can ’ t get out of bed . Those days when you cry yourself to sleep or can ’ t look at yourself in the mirror .

Self-esteem is confidence and satisfaction in yourself .

Self-esteem is confidence and satisfaction in yourself . It ’ s also tied to your self-respect . It ’ s how you think and feel about yourself . Your health , relationships , even your job may be affected by the way you value ( or don ’ t value ) yourself . Self-esteem ( or lack of it ) can affect every area of your life . It can help you hold your head high and feel proud of yourself and what you do , even when things don ’ t seem to be going well . Selfesteem gives you the courage to try new things and the power to believe in yourself . It ’ s a measure of how you see yourself and how you feel about your life .
I want to make it clear that having selfesteem isn ’ t about bragging ! A healthy selfesteem is an inner knowledge that you are worthy exactly as you are . You accept and love yourself at this moment — flaws and all ! If self-esteem is a measure of how you see yourself and how you feel about your life , it will make sense to have good self-esteem ; we would need to do things for ourselves and our lives that honor the amazing creations that we each are . Essentially , to have a healthy self-esteem , loving ourselves is a must .
Not loving yourself is like watching dominos fall , one right after the other . Choosing not to eat healthily or exercise will send you down the

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WISDOM & SELF-GROWTH