Self- Esteem

Here is a small re-cap from the very 1st "Sacred Women" meeting- Thursday, April 15Th 2010

Mission Statement- To collectively as women come up with concrete skills in order to heal, become self-aware, have faith and hope in ourselves and ultimately become better women; to promote healing, love and unity.

The definition of "Sacred"- Holy, Divine, secured against violation, infringement; properly immune from violence.. All women are sacred- We are ALL Divine;the female version of God. Read on...

Tonight we discussed the issue of self-esteem. I wanted to begin with this topic of discussion first because all things begin with self; also I wanted to discuss self- esteem because I have battled with low self-esteem and so have many other women. The focus of this discussion is to be open, honest and collectively come up with ways to improve our self-esteems.

Discussion Questions (Not all discussion questions are listed):

What is self- esteem?
What is healthy self-esteem?
What is low self-esteem?
How do you go about building healthy self-esteem?
Do the people in your life support and nurture your esteem or do you surround yourself with people who make you feel bad about yourself?

Many responded that self-esteem is how you feel about yourself or your own sense of self-worth or self-respect. Self-esteem also encompasses our belief's about ourselves and how we feel emotionally about ourselves.
We all agreed on healthy self-esteem- feeling good about yourself, being honest with yourself, aware of your strengths and weaknesses but focusing more on your strengths, taking care of yourself emotionally, mentally and physically i.e. if someone is treating you in a bad way removing yourself from their presence permanently because you know that you were not created to be mistreated, forgiving yourself and having inner confidence(not arrogance).

Low self-esteem is the opposite of healthy self-esteem- being too hard on yourself, not feeling "good enough", feeling little, jealousy, mistreating other's, allowing other's to mistreat you constantly, negative self-image, talking negatively to yourself- "I look so ugly today", comparing yourself to other's- "She drives a better car than I do", lack of trust, deep insecurity, looking for validation/sign of approval in men, friends, a job/career, your children instead of validating yourself.

Finally we discussed tools/skills to improve our self-esteems. First we must admit to ourselves that our esteem needs to be improved. Also daily affirmations- "I am beautiful", reverse negative thoughts about self, take compliments with grace, say "Thank you" instead of "Oh this old dress". Spend time with yourself or just be still, do something that makes you feel good- read, get your toes done, go on a nature walk, listen to your favorite song (something inspirational), read positive literature etc; removing toxic/mean-spirited/angry/hurtful people out of your life permanently, talk aloud to yourself(yes, like a crazy person) use your talents/gifts- writing, singing, teaching, playing an instrument, drawing, painting, dancing etc...and finally pray( prayer is Huge action). When we take care of ourselves and nurture and build our self-esteems from the inside out we become the women we know we should be. Remember healthy self-esteem (not arrogance or "thinking your all that" type of mentality because that type of mentality is really low self- esteem masked)takes time and effort. The skills listed above are things that we women must do daily. We must remember that a negative self-image and negative thoughts are all based on fear and lies. We are the image of God and when a thought comes to our minds that states the opposite we must reverse it; less we believe a lie. These practices take effort. Even though it takes effort you are worth it; we are worth it. We are Sacred Women.

Peace- Miss D "Founder of Sacred Women"