Have you ever stopped to realize how often you compare yourself to others and feel inadequate? And have you also noticed how many times you mentally criticize yourself, putting yourself down and discrediting yourself?
These situations are very recurrent in our lives, and in a way I even consider it part of human nature.
It's just that it's a lower nature that directs us to our worst side, and makes us feel frustrated and powerless over our lives.
Therefore, in this post, we are going to talk about how to react to these tendencies of our minds – who lie – and see how it is possible to reconnect to our noblest and highest nature (You can find out how connected you are to this nature of yours by taking this test).
This is the best antidote to self-esteem issues.
Low Self-Esteem as a Sign – Our Pains Have Their Value
Feelings of inferiority, dissatisfaction, depression and guilt often reveal personal discontent, which is an internal struggle in search of a better quality of life.
These symptoms should not be eliminated, but rather accepted as signs of something within us that is not working as it should.
From this point of view, the situation to be faced is not an evil, but a valuable resource.
As uncomfortable as it may be, this situation is nothing more than an alarm from something inside of us that needs fixing.
The importance of looking at our inner nature
For those who experience low self-esteem – as I did for many years – at first glance, the idea of ​​turning inward causes a certain fear.
That's because the mind is so used to self-criticism that the idea of ​​looking at itself seems like it's only going to make things worse.
But I will clarify what I consider here as our inner nature, which would be our true nature:
This nature is that most essential and pure part of us, which does not judge, does not criticize us, supports us, lifts us up and believes that we are incredible and irreplaceable beings.
Needless to say, this divine spark of ours that lifts us up is often weakened because our minds keep repeating the flawed ideas of our other nature that pulls us down: that critical inner voice that doesn't let us express our true nature.
Therefore, low self-esteem is a consequence of disconnecting from this good, pure and true part of us.
So let's see how to counterbalance this perverse tendency of our minds that directs our attention to what brings us down.
3 Steps to overcoming low self-esteem:
1. Practice Self-observation
The first step to start to change is to get to know yourself, that is, to start listening to the voice of the head, to notice what thoughts we are thinking.
This sounds banal, but it's profoundly relevant: our heads are thinking all the time, and we often don't even realize what's going on there.
By activating your inner observer, you begin to perceive what your mind is creating.
Probably at first you will be scared by how much negativity we have throughout the day. But don't worry: we are all like that.
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Self-observation is not self-reproach, it is just an act of becoming aware of what we are thinking.
This means having an unbiased look, which does not judge and does not despair when noticing that what one thinks is negative.
We have a natural tendency to pull down, to see catastrophic and negative scenarios. This is our brain's defense mechanism to prevent us from getting into trouble.
2. Practice Positive Actions
Once you are alert to your thoughts (you don't have to be self-observing all the time, but at least a few times a day), you will begin to act with awareness.
Action does not just mean physical actions. Here I refer to three kinds of action: mental action, expressed by thoughts; the spoken action, expressed by our words; and the physical action itself.
Yes, it may not seem like it, but thoughts are also actions of our minds. They are the seeds of matter, or, as Marcella Danon says in her book “Ecopsychology”:
“Thought is just a more diluted form of matter”
Marcella DanonWith this practice, you will begin to direct your attention to positive things, to see things with different eyes, and to appreciate the beautiful around you.
He will be more attentive to the words he utters: he will think better before uttering offenses or criticisms.
You will prefer to think and talk about things of higher quality and that uplift other people and situations around you. This means that you will begin to better direct your thoughts and speech.
The same will happen with practical actions: you will become more selective and more focused on doing good deliberately.
“By doing negative actions, you contaminate yourself. By not doing positive actions, you purify yourself” (Sidhartha Gautama, the Buddha)
3. Persevere in Cultivating the First Two Steps
This step seems to be the easiest – as you just have to repeat steps 1 and 2 – but it's actually the hardest.
Creating new habits requires effort and determination, as they go in the opposite direction to what we are already used to.
But the result is worth it: you'll overcome low self-esteem and be able to get up a lot faster when you start to feel down.
When you get into the habit of observing yourself (Step 1), the more easily you will notice your negative nature acting on you and the more quickly you will start taking positive actions (Step 2) that anesthetize or lessen the negative power of others. thoughts that lead down.
This doesn't mean pretending that you're not having a bad thought that brings you down or that you're not having moments of frustration or discouragement.
It's impossible not to have that in life. But the practice of these three steps will strengthen you and give you tools to react in the best way in down times.
Reconnect to your true nature and overcome self-esteem
How do you think your connection to your true nature is? I leave the tip of this test for you to know: what is your degree of connection with inner and outer nature.
The fact is that we are all born with an inner nature that has everything we need to create our best version.
We all have a seed of inner peace and recognition of self-worth, which only needs “optimal” conditions in order to grow.
Low self-esteem, self-contempt, high self-criticism, continuous comparing yourself to others and not feeling good enough are internal pains that must be heard and faced without fear.
Cultivating the three steps mentioned above,
- self-observe
- do positive actions
- Persist in these habits
you will be prepared with the right tools to reconnect with your inner self and strengthen yourself to face these pains without letting yourself down.
Thank you!
One Gama
