Self esteem

I have investigated the meaning of self-esteem so that we can be sure we are talking about the same thing we first must agree on a meaning. It describes what a person thinks about themselves. Since this doesn’t tell me much I looked for things that influence self-esteem and here are a few: Genetics determines your appearance and this is a factor. Childhood experiences or environment. So now we have nature and nurture. Developing skills through education and experiences. I read that you can determine a lot about a person’s self-esteem by listening to them answer the question, “Who are you”. When I read that I was reminded of a poem I wrote many years ago about that question. I am a person, just one of a kind Of body and soul, and singular mind Created by God, for His own reasons Part of His plan, a man for all seasons I am a name, from past generations Given to me, without reservations To guard and cherish, and wear with great pride In honor of those, who before me have died I am a husband, with a wonderful wife To love and cherish, for the rest of my life To forgive and forget, seven times seven And someday for sure, spend together in heaven I am a father, with little ones to raise God give me patience, understanding their ways Guidance and wisdom, to stay on the track Know when to push, and when to hold back I am a citizen, proud of my land Ready to stand up, and give her a hand Liberty and justice, for all you’ll agree Is the way that God, has meant it to be I am a wage earner, going out each day To compete in the markets, the regular way Hard work is part, of the cross that we bare In order to have, all the goods that we share I am many things, as you can now see All of the parts, that together make me And when you look closely, at what you might be You’ll find with surprise, that you’re much like me As I reread that poem I was struck with the fact that most of it has to do with how I fit into the world. If I lived on a deserted island all of this would be meaningless except the first stanza where I say I am a person. This tells me that my self-esteem is primarily dependent on my relationship with others. Then I close the poem assuming that everyone else is like me. I am not pleased with this. I want to believe that I am most concerned about how I relate to my inner self as opposed to how I relate to others, but maybe that is not the case. I want to believe that I am more concerned about what I think about me than what others think about me. To be continued