The Love Below

Anthony*, 22 of Dekalb County, exercises every day in efforts to have a perfect body. "I am never going to get the six-pack I have been trying to get the past three years," he says. "My friends come in here and in three months they are brand new people." Lakeisha*, 18 of Clay County, studies two to three hours everyday for a certain chemistry class. "This is my third time taking this course," she says. "If I don't past it this time, I am dropping out of school." There comes a time in life when we visualize who we are and how we look, as well as build our strengths. On another note, we recognize are weaknesses and fail when it comes to finding ways to conquer them. Self-esteem is all about how much we feel love, value and accept ourselves. As long as you have a healthy self-esteem, you can feel good about yourself and appreciate what you are worth. We all experience problems with self-esteem at some point in life, but especially as young adults when we are trying to figure out who we are and what is our objectives on this earth. How we feel about ourselves can influence how we live our lives. People who feel that they have good self-esteem will most likely allow you to accept yourself and live life to the fullest. If you want to improve your self-esteem, here are some steps that lifepositive.com suggests as a good start: Learn to value yourself beyond your materialistic worth. Focus on your abilities and your positive qualities rather than cribbing over what you do not have. People are always in the habit of judging. What works for you is simply self-belief. When you can say to yourself "I'm good", you know you have managed to steer away from troubled waters! So, believe in yourself. One needs to understand that no one is perfect. When you have too high expectations, you're setting yourself up for failure. Stop worrying about what other people think. How you feel is much more important. Never act apologetic, insecure, try to get approval, or like you're trying to impress. Hold yourself upright. Think of how you'd hold yourself if you were the most confident person in the world. Self-esteem plays a role in almost everything you do. People with high self-esteem do better in school and find it easier to accept the things in life as it is. High self-esteem finds it easier to deal with mistakes, disappointments, and failures, and are more likely to stick with something until they succeed. It takes some work, but it's a skill you'll have for life. There are two counselors on campus that are trained in this department for cases like mentioned above. Jacqueline Awe, Director of Counseling and Disability Services and Shawntell Phoenix- Martin, Disability Advisor are available to the student body if in need of professional guidance. *The names in this article were changed to protect the SSU students' identity*