Day 192:
Boost your self-esteem by interpreting events in the best way
possible
Whenever possible I go for a walk in the evenings after work to meditate,
thank God, and find inspiration for this series. Tonight I had no idea what
to write about so I went for my walk. As I walking and saying some affirmations,
I came upon a pretty young lady. As I glanced at her, I noticed that she looked
me over and smiled. I have quite a high self-esteem, so I immediately interpreted
the event as obviously she liked me. Now I am very happily married (to the co-author
of this series) but it is always good to feel good looking and attractive. So
my interpretation of the event boosted my self-esteem.
I remembered a friend who has an extremely low self-esteem. If the same
event had happened to my friend he would have assumed the young lady was laughing
at him and this would have further lowered his self-esteem.
An issue arises here: there is a tendency for the person with a high self-esteem
to keep doing things which will boost her* self-esteem and the person with a
low self-esteem will do things which will lower his*. I suppose that's why I
write this series: to change the tendency for people to keep their current self-esteem
and to boost everyone's self-esteem. I believe no matter where you are today,
by reading these simple articles and doing some of the suggested assignments
(whichever makes most sense to you -- we are each individuals with individual
needs) you can boost your self-esteem.
So whenever an event happens, think of the different meanings it might have
and choose the most positive meaning. Choose the interpretation which would
do the most to boost your self-esteem.
Mullah Nasrudin story:
In the days of the Mullah, there were no supermarkets and people had to
take their own wheat to the miller to make flour and bake their own bread. One
day the Mullah's wife sends him to the miller with a sack of wheat. There was
a long line for the miller and the people had to wait. As they were waiting
every now and then, Nasrudin would go over to somebody else's sack and take
a fistful of grain and place it within his own bag. Each time the owner would
ask, "What are you doing Mullah? Are you crazy?" The Mullah would
reply, "I'm crazy. Been this way all my life." The complainer would
have to keep his peace since in those days crazy people were considered fools
of God and were protected by the law. By noon time everyone was fed up with
the Mullah's antics. Someone shouted, "Mullah, if you are crazy why do
you always take our grain? Why don't you sometimes take a fistful of your own
and put it in our sacks?" Nasrudin smiled and answered, "I'm crazy.
I'm not stupid."
For more Mullah stories and other similar stories see:
Teaching Stories
More Teaching Stories
Yet More Teaching Stories
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* We alternate the use he/she etc...
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