Navigating the River of Self-Esteem
According to all the coaches, counselors, teachers, you name it, esteem is attainable.
Sure it is. And it feels wonderful, powerful to esteem yourself. You feel good about who you are and what you can accomplish. You feel empowered.
But how long does that last? A day? A month? A year or more? When you are in the flow of self-esteem and empowerment, life is good. Everything is flowing your way.
Then suddenly there is a dip, a turn, a rock, or even a waterfall and your feeling good about yourself gets bounced around on the current, in the rapids of life and self-esteem gets tossed overboard as you try to hang onto some semblance of balance and control.
photo from pexels by Guduru Ajay Bhargav
Once you get yourself through the currents of that particular bend in the river, you hit a calm stream and you can assess what is still in the canoe with you. That’s when you realize that self-esteem was tossed overboard in your effort to simply survive. Now you must rebuild, redevelop, rekindle your inner sense of self-esteem in order to keep on navigating the river of Life. Because let’s face it, we are in the flow of Life and it does take skills to navigate it in a healthy and fulfilling way in order to watch the scenery, the currents, the beauty that is always around us and within us.
But what if esteem was never tossed overboard? What if your self-esteem never left you? What if you merely pushed it aside or behind you as you navigated the rapids attempting to do your best to survive the moment, the fear, the pain of living? What if we could recognize that self-esteem is our partner in the river of Life? Could we begin to rely on esteem and trust and respect it? What if self- esteem is our inner navigator, our inner strength and courage? Our inner Love?
Wouldn’t it be more glorious to recognize that self-esteem never leaves us. It never gets tossed overboard. Self-esteem simply holds all that we are within us so we can never toss ourselves overboard in a frantic attempt to live life.
Now that sounds like a ride I want to take with a steady and reliable partner, my self-esteem.