Building Self Esteem – One

Author, Steven Kotler wrote, “…my life had somehow developed a heavy glass ceiling that I was constantly slamming my head against.” One of the greatest frustrations in life is to keep hitting the same glass ceiling over and over again as you attempt to attract something good into your life. There is a spiritual law that states; You can only attract to your life and keep in it, that which you honestly belief you are worthy of having. Therefore, self-esteem is usually the core issue many people need to work on before they can attract the life they desire.

The truth is: Without a healthy self-image it’s nearly impossible to have a functional relationship, and that includes the relationship you have with yourself and God. And we have lots of people out there proving that every day; desperate for love, but never finding a quality relationship.

It’s one of the most frustrating problems that people have, really wanting to feel a close, intimate bond with someone but unable to succeed because of a distorted image of their own worth. They really want to find work that’s rewarding and fulfilling but they’re unable to attract it because they have no idea of their true worth or value.
Everything that works in life begins with healthy self esteem! Without a true love and appreciation for yourself, you really can’t succeed at anything else.

So, how do you build your self-esteem? How do you get to that place where you can look yourself in the mirror and say, “I love you,” and really mean it! For many of us, we get to the truth by digging ourselves out from under all of the lies we’ve been told over the years by good-intentioned people. Somewhere under that junk-heap of misinformation lies the truth of who you are. So, let’s start with what isn’t true about you and then, eventually we’ll find the truth we’re looking for.

YOU ARE NOT YOUR BODY
In one hundred years or less everyone here will be gone. We’ll leave our bodies behind and go on to the next grand adventure in our soul’s eternal journey. It’s important to remember that we are not bodies. We are spirits! We are the Spirit inside that animates our bodies and uses them to get around from one place to another. They’re just a temporary vehicle for our spirit.

Recently I overheard two women talking about the Miss USA pageant. They said the winner worked out at the gym 3 hours a day, 6 days a week. I’m all for having a buff body but I don’t want to get to the end of my life on earth and have to face my creator with no greater accomplishment than buns of steel. If God asks at the end of my life; “So Chris, how did you spend your time on earth? What did you contribute to life?” I want to be able to say something more significant than, “Well, I had this really firm butt.” Your value has nothing to do with the firmness or size of body parts. Say it aloud, “I am not my ass! I am not my chest!”

That’s one of the biggest lies we’re told that gets reinforced every single day on thousands of magazine covers. Your value as a human being has absolutely nothing to do with the age, shape, or size of your body! Do not place any value on it. Just use what you’ve got and have fun with it.

YOU ARE NOT YOUR ASSETS
One of the other lies we’ve unconsciously bought in to is that our value comes from how much stuff we own or how much money we have. This is particularly applicable to men. A lot of men have their net-worth confused with their self-worth.

God isn’t looking at the balance sheet to determine your value. Its only interest is in how much life you’re expressing, how much joy you let into your heart and how much love you give to others. The universe has enough of its own assets. It doesn’t need yours and it’s not impressed with whatever portion you’ve managed to accumulate. The truth is: You don’t really own anything, anyway. God does—–you’re just renting!

So your self-value has absolutely nothing to do with how much stuff you rent or how much money you have. You are not your income or your education, or your car or any of the things you’ve spent your money on.

Life is too short to spend it stacking up little pieces of green-paper. You are not here to accumulate wealth. You’re here to enjoy it and use it to live an abundant life! Quality of life is always more important than how much money you have. The greater question is: How much peace do you have? How much freedom?

YOU ARE NOT YOUR EDUCATION
The Universe is not impressed with your diploma or degrees. Perhaps you are. Perhaps they represent some achievement that you feel proud of, and then in consequence use them to boost your self-esteem. There’s certainly nothing wrong with getting a good education. It will be very beneficial in the world. However, from a Cosmic perspective, it really doesn’t matter. In other words, your value to God isn’t determined by your level of education.

The word education comes from the Latin word, “educara,” meaning to “draw out that which is within.” A good education will assist you in drawing out the wisdom that God has already placed inside you. It may ignite your passions and reveal your talents. But they were already within you lying in wait for your awareness.

Wisdom doesn’t necessarily go hand-in-hand with education. There are some highly educated people who lack basic common sense. And there are some poorly educated people who have great wisdom. What level of education did Jesus have? Who taught Mozart to compose? Who taught Leonardo da Vinci to paint? Who taught Albert Einstein to hypothesize? Who taught Oprah to be Oprah?

YOU ARE NOT YOUR LOCATION
God doesn’t care where you live. It doesn’t love Johnson county residents more than Wyandotte county residents or Jackson county residents. It is not more loving to those who live closer to Metcalf than those who live east of Troost. There is no more of God’s Power in Sedona than in New York City. There is no more of God’s Beauty in the Greek Islands than in Kansas.

God is fully present in every location, simultaneously. It is omnipresent. That means the power to change, heal and transform your life is in the NOW moment and the NOW location. Your value to God doesn’t change based on your location. The question is: Does your opinion of yourself differ based on it?

YOU ARE NOT YOUR JOB
God does not care where you work or how big your office may be. God is not impressed with titles and positions. Perhaps you are. Maybe you think you have more value if you’re vice president of a company. Maybe you think you have less value if you’re in an entry level position in a corporation or a housekeeper. Perhaps your self-esteem is linked to your job title. If so, you’re going to have a terrible time if you get laid off. Your self esteem is going to crash!

The sad fact is; each of us receives a mountain of misinformation and negative self-images from our society every day. And they continue to be reinforced by a culture that objectifies women, emasculates men and sexualizes children. Every day we’re faced with someone else telling us that we’re not good enough as we are!

So, if you want to be set free from the teeter-totter of rising and lowering self-esteem you have to know the truth about who you are and then remember it in the face of everything and every one who wants to challenge it.

It is a huge challenge to be in this world but to also know that your good doesn’t come from anything that happens here. Even the best of us still lose our way sometimes. Somewhere along the line, most of us go through a period of self-doubt—-where we question our worth. We start thinking; “Maybe their right. Maybe I’m not good enough…” And that’s when we need to revisit the truth that our value is not determined by external factors.