The Toxicity of Self-Esteem: Why It Never Works – May 2019 Reblog # 30

A Better Way to Love Ourselves

Self-esteem has always been a prominent concept throughout our lives. We were taught that we needed it to be happy and that it was achievable by anyone who wanted it, meaning those who were willing to work hard for it. In our perpetual rat-race, our parents, and their parents, believed that competition was healthy and that striving to be better than your neighbor created meaning; it seemed like a well-thought-out and well-intentioned program: we would build our society through the efforts of those individuals who motivated themselves by way of their desire to best all of their peers. It seemed so logical and perfect; yet, the consequences have been horrifying. Social isolation and perfectionist behavior have risen exponentially over the past several decades; the need to be better has evolved into the necessity for perfection, which in turn fueled our paranoia and distrust of…