Forcing the Case For Self-Esteem...
Last evening was the beginning of Ramadan.
I know, big frigging whoop, right?
Here's the WIKI on all the *411* :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan
Now this is a time of ATONEMENT for the Muslim sect.
They fast, pray, and ask FORGIVENESS for past sins (like bombing World Trade Centers...that kinda stuff).
They pray for GUIDANCE (for their RPGs no doubt), and try to purify themselves through self-restraint from evil deeds.
Now, that's all well and good IF you're a PEACEFUL Muslim...NOT if you're one of those radical Islamists, right?
This (to them) is a time to renew one's SELF-ESTEEM.
If you were to google up the phrase "self-esteem", you'd get about 7,670,000 hits back.
They have a multitude of websites solely designed to YOUR self-esteem.
Even got STORES for self-help.
There are evaluation tests and quizzes out the butt...all because you don't feel good about yourself for some reason, and in some aspect of your life.
Not to be cynical (well, not any more than I usually am), but LIFE is not about "feeling good" alone.
Life is about struggling, success, failure, attempting, learning, and many, many more things.
And it's within those confines that we will acquire some level of SELF-ESTEEM.
But it won't always be lasting, nor will it be all-encompassing.
That's not the way this cookie crumbles, folks.
Here's the WIKI on self esteem, if you want a nice, concise "history":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-esteem
There will be times when your self-esteem might be soaring with the eagles, and other times, it will be dragged through the gutters.
It's a roller-coaster ride with this particular psychological part of our makeup.
And, as with any roller coaster, there will be times you laugh and scream your head off in amusement, and other times, you can't wait to get off and toss your breakfast.
Funny thing is, it comes down to YOU and how YOU react to outside as well as internal influences.
Anything you do WELL at, will invariably cause a RISE in self-esteem, while any defeat will inspire a DROP in it.
Times like these are transitory in nature, and it's up to YOU to figure out how to properly cope, so as to maximize those rises and minimize those drops.
For example, if something in our life goes awry, we can't help but feel bad.
How LONG we feel that way impacts upon our self-esteem...we don't feel "worthy" or perhaps worthless.
If we can LEARN from that specific experience, we grow stronger, and thereby supplant this worthlessness with a better feeling about ourselves.
We negate the long-term loss of self-esteem.
In times past, such was the case with most everyone.
We did wrong, or something happened, we suffered the consequences and/or the results, and moved on...
Today, it's a whole other ballgame.
In our schools alone, we see this insipid desire to have our children feel good about themselves ALL the damn time.
And those running the educational system will do whatever it takes to make that happen, regardless of the underlying damage they are doing in it's stead.
If kids feel good about themselves, they'll perform BETTER.
Yeah...some of the time.
But when they never have the chance to learn from ANY mistake, misstep, or wrongdoing, coating such behaviors with a sugary program, designed to bolster ONLY the good parts of doing anything, we diminish the child's capacity to fully comprehend WHAT they have done incorrectly in the first place.
You don't commend someone for getting a "D" when they have the capacity to get a "B", or even an "A", right?
And you never "reward" bad behavior, right?
Well, everyone's a "winner", these days, aren't they?
Then, there is the REAL world...where anyone will take you down a few notches when warranted. Then what do you do, hmm?
How can all these "feel-good" programs instill ANY sense of reality when school systems are all promoting a "Candyland" mindset?
Short answer: They can't.
Yet, the REAL WORLD has it's issues as well, and you see and hear about them every single day...if you know where to look, and when to listen.
We have fast become an uber-PC world...don't dare step on ANYONE'S toes (even if they deserve it), because you might "hurt their feelings".
We will, without blinking an eye, seek to sue one another because we think our feelings got hurt when someone SAID something we perceive as injurious to our psyche, or posted a sign or word we found "offensive".
Used to be a time when everyone had more "cajones", and a lot thicker skin.
Things we see and hear today ran off our backs like water off a damn duck.
Now, like the overly politically-correct society we've become, we cave the hell into an individual or a small group.
We fore go a PRAYER at a graduation, because ONE parent had an issue with GOD.
We deny posting the TEN COMMANDMENTS in a government building, because it may OFFEND some ATHEIST.
We sue a store owner because he had the "audacity" to post a sign that read "WE SPEAK ENGLISH ONLY".
All this, and more seeks to undermine WHO we are.
And we do it in the name of "self-esteem".
We were not all MEANT to be happy-go-lucky people who danced through life, without a care in the world, safe in the knowledge that our all-important SELF ESTEEM was totally intact for all times...that dog just ain't gonna hunt.
We were meant to challenge one another...and ourselves.
We WERE meant to be a people that KNEW who we are, did the best job possible, and always tried to do what was right for ourselves, as well as for our fellow man. We also used to be a lot more God-fearing people, and that meant a lot to us, as a society.
You don't arbitrarily smack people down because YOU are bothered by something or someone. Grow a pair and get with the society.
You CAN question that which NEEDS questioning, and thereby garner support for something you can PROVE is wrong.
Nothing wrong with that.
Somehow, as a people, we've lost out way...the path became overgrown, or we simply didn't pay attention to all those roadsigns as we meandered through the ages.
Perhaps it's time we got back on the right road, and take a good look around us, to get our sense of direction again.
Maybe THAT, in and of itself, would go a LONG way to restoring whatever self-esteem we may have lost.
And maybe...just MAYBE, we need to stop holding the hands of people that need to start fending for themselves, psychologically-speaking.
It has oft been said that "God helps those who help themselves". Perhaps if more people took a few moments to help THEMSELVES, instead of always having their hands out to everyone else (to stroke their feelings), THEY would take a bit more pride in accomplishing something THEMSELVES, and that would certainly make THEIR self-esteem rise.
It would also imbue the rest of us with a greater sense of pride, knowing that those people CAN do for themselves, just as we have been called upon to do all along.
Now, if you ask me, that sure sounds like a real "win-win" all around...no matter how you shake it.
Be well, make a difference today, and...
Stay safe out there, America.