Growing up, I often undervalued myself and the things I could accomplish.  But standing up for oneself is so important.  I think that self-underestimation is an unfortunate thing that happens to particularly shy people.  I used to be one of them.

It started out when I was in grammar school.  The message I received from the nuns that taught me, was that I was never supposed to think too highly of myself.  Apparently, it smacked of conceit, or that was the message I got.  It didn’t take much to convince me then.  I don’t know why I felt that way.  I was easily discouraged.

Interestingly enough, I was quick to defend others.  So there was a seed planted, that in my future I would begin to feel that way about myself.  But standing up for oneself is an important part of our development as a human being.

I still have vestiges of that self-effacement that seem to come out of nowhere.  But I haven’t paid attention to them for a long time.  Thank goodness.

With children, in our society, we need to encourage them as much as possible.  That’s how we evolve into the people we are born to be.  Feeling good about oneself is essential to living up to one’s potential and one’s own goals and expectations.  

In my experience, I was very fortunate to have supportive parents and other adults who believed in me.  That seeped into my consciousness and allowed me to be my best self.  But it took a long time to fully accept my worth in the outside world.

We can never know what goes on in another person’s mind, but as adults, it is important to encourage the next generation.  Positive affirmation is key to motivate children to be the best version of themselves.  Standing up for oneself is essential to this end.  The next generation will show us if we were successful or not.