Self Esteem

A UCLA researcher has discovered a gene she believes relates to optimism and self esteem. It's that old "nature vs nurture" debate. We humans are a combination of hard wiring and environment. It's not really nature vs nurture, but nature and nurture interacting with each other. That newborn baby enters this life as a complete package, but the important people in her life will certainly have an influence on her.

Are you, as Dexter Holland cleverly phrases it, a sucker with no self esteem? The obvious solution for the guy in the song is to simply break up with the girl who treats him so badly. A healthy self concept is something we can control, and it can start out in simple baby steps, by not allowing people to treat you badly.

So maybe the bad news is you don't have the gene for high self esteem and/or your parents didn't have a clue. But the good news is, you get to take it from here. You have control of your life, and how you feel about yourself doesn't rest in a gene or in your parents' hands. It's in your hands, how you feel about yourself, how you live your life, how you relate to other people. I know it works because I have done it. Not perfectly, but I have gone from low to medium to high self-esteem. I love the person I am. Can you truthfully say that about yourself? And if not, why not start today?

Susan