About Self-Esteem and Teens

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Teens - About Self-Esteem

Self esteem is defined as a feeling of pride in oneself, and a sense of one's own dignity or worth. It is important to have self-esteem in order to garner a positive outlook on life. Many times a balance of good self-esteem is hard to find because of two common extremes.

Low Self Esteem

1) Low self-esteem is generally described as a deflated self-image or not liking yourself. Your views about yourself are characteristically unrealistic and demeaning. People with low self-esteem tend to be very hard on themselves and may have a pessimistic view of life as a consequence.

High Self Esteem

2) High self-esteem is not always a bad thing, and in many cases it can be good to have a high sense of self-worth. Sometimes however, a high self esteem can get out of hand and turn into egotism which is an inflated view of yourself that can also be unrealistic. Other terms used to describe this condition are conceited or prideful.

A detailed article on Self Esteem can be found here.

Self esteem can be a challenging thing, especially for teens struggling to define who they are in the first place. "Who am I?" is a question that people, no matter what age, are trying to answer.

Everyone, no matter who they are, carries with them their past experiences and influences. We cannot escape the messages we receive from parents, teachers, friends, and our media-ridden society. Many of the opinions we get about our own appearance, performance and status in culture come from these competing views.

Although it is important to listen to other people, do not let their opinion of you change your fundamental views of yourself. Just because someone makes fun of the dress you think is cool, does not mean that you have bad taste. You are allowed to be yourself in a world that is trying to make you like everybody else.

Romans 12:3 states "I ask you not to think of yourselves more highly than you should. Instead, your thoughts should lead you to use good judgment based on what God has given each of you as believers." What God has given you is a value that is unbelievably filled with grace. You are acceptable, worthy and competent in God's sight.

Constant criticism can harm self-esteem. Do you have an "inner critic," a voice inside finds fault with everything you do? If you are thinking too much about your shortcomings, try to start thinking about positive aspects of you:

Think about what you're good at, what you enjoy
List the positive attributes that you have - try to list things on the inside that count!
Take pride in your opinions and ideas.
Why might people like you?
How are you a good friend?

Link for more tips on Improving Self Esteem.

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