In order to be happy, it is essential to feel good about oneself. Im sure all of us can relate to not being content with who we are at some point in time. We’ve all felt miserable about either our looks, or wardrobe, or our abilities or the lack of, our routine or the lack of, our roots, residence, so on and so forth. In other words, we’ve all been through a phase when our self esteem was the lowest. Im sure you don’t want to go there again, but you’ve at least got a story to tell your little one when he or she is in the dumps. Anyway, I feel it’s never too early to plant the childhood roots of adult happiness and it all begins with building self-esteem.
Today I read a book by the famous duo of Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell titled “Im gonna like me –Letting off a little self esteem”. Alternating between a boy’s and a girl’s point of view, this vibrantly illustrated book demonstrates the importance of liking yourself. A little boy likes himself even when his smile reveals two of his fallen teeth, or when he’s called up to answer the question in class and his answer is wrong, or when he trips and hurts himself, or, when he is not the first in race, or when he cleans up his room or takes out the trash, or plays with his little brother or when he tries out new things, including his grandma’s octopus stew! He knows he’s loved and liking himself is the best way to show it! In the end, he sums up “Im gonna like me, I already do. How about you?” This question got Abhay thinking, as he asked me “Amma, what does not liking me, mean?”:-)
Divya,
ReplyDeleteThis story is really makes one think.As you said everybody has gone throug this phase,but difficult to come out of it.Appa said we always tell our kids be like him instead of asking him to "liking him".This is one way to build self esteem.
Your Blog "Liking myself" made me thinking how important for a child to like himself. It is in other words "self belief". We always tell children to love papa, mummy, grandpa, grandma , friend and all others but never like yourself! The only way we can build self esteem in a child is to make the child to like himself( make him to understand the concept of liking oneself) without any inhibitions!
ReplyDeleteAbhay may be too young to understand this but parents can play an important role in building self esteem of a child as he grows.
kedlapurandar