Fifth Annual Essay Contest
Winning Entry
by Alicia McDonald

According to The New International Webster's Pocket Dictionary, self- esteem is defined as "a just opinion of oneself; an overestimate of oneself; conceit." As for myself, I believe that the word self-esteem has a much different meaning.

For me, building self-esteem was a gradual thing - truthfully, though, I am still developing it. Self-esteem is truly a vital part of my life and every person's life. A quote by Joyce Brothers illustrates the importance of having a strong sense of self-esteem: "An individual's self-concept is the core of his personality. It affects every aspect of human behavior: the ability to learn, the capacity to grow and change ... A strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success in life."

Without my self-esteem, I would not be the person I am today. My self-esteem gives me the ability to judge myself fairly and not be compared to others. Since there will always be people in the world who are better than I am, and people who are not as good as me I have learned to not listen to people's negative comments. I believe that there is no person in the whole world who knows you better than yourself, so why should I bother listening to others belittling comments. Listening to the lies in life only makes you unhappy, so I use my own sense of self-esteem for contentment. To me the words of Les Brown hold true to this belief also: "Other people's opinion of you does not have to become your reality." I use my self-esteem to sort out what is "constructive criticism", which will make me a better person, versus "destructive criticism", which tears me down. I use the constructive advice in my reality and accept the rest as another person's opinion.

Everyone should have a sense of self-esteem, whether they are the world's most famous person or all the way down to someone who is "as plain as day." Even Oprah Winfrey made a statement about self-esteem: "Every time you suppress some part of yourself or allow others to play you small, you are in essence ignoring the owner's manual your creator gave you and destroying your design." In other words, "do not let someone else tell you how to live your life - the only person who can do that job is YOU."

Self-esteem is part of my daily life. As I mentioned before, I am still working on my self-esteem, so I can guarantee myself the opportunity to live a happy as a life as humanly possible. I believe that the words of Sylvia Ashton-Warner sum up my own perspective on living life with great self-esteem: "You must be true to yourself. Strong enough to be true to yourself. Brave enough to be strong enough to be true to yourself. Wise enough to be brave enough to shape yourself from what you actually are."

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