What is the reason for our dislike of ourselves? Why do we see ourselves clearly as a cluster of faults instead of 
instead of being imbued with love for each and every one of our traits?
Experimental Evidence
That we often underestimate ourselves, eloquently spoke of the experiment once conducted by a well-known cosmetics company. Its essence was simple: ask a woman to describe herself.
Simultaneously with the heroine of the episode her appearance was described by another woman, who had previously talked a little with her.
Portraits were drawn by the artist based on the descriptions (the artist himself had not seen the women, he was guided solely by the descriptions provided). The result shocked all the participants of the experiment – the first portrait (drawn from the description of the woman herself) depicted a much more unattractive woman than the second.
What does this mean? That we actually underestimate ourselves, and believe that we are worse/less beautiful than we really are/what others see us as.
It’s not just about appearance.
Of course, the appearance example is just the tip of the iceberg. A talented cook may not think his wonderful cakes are a work of art. A teacher from God thinks his labors are not worthy of gratitude. A woman who has raised five children to be decent people does not think she is a gifted parent and educator.
The problem is that the easier it is for us to create or do something, the less importance we attach to it. A man who composes talented poetry on the fly may never reveal it to the world. And everyone loses out: the poet and the world at large.
Everyone is talented!
Indeed, everyone is capable of doing something better than others. Somebody knows the art of makeup perfectly, somebody sews amazing outfits, and somebody knows how to win arguments.
No matter how old a person is or what country they were born in, they are talented. Any woman is talented, even if she is just a housewife raising children. After all, how many skills it takes to be a good mother and keep the house in order! In the same way any man is talented, regardless of his occupation.
The ability to love yourself
Unfortunately, not everyone has this skill. Millions of people every day talk about loving themselves, strive for this feeling. However, they are completely contrary to their aspirations, devaluing their skills and talents. Read an article about why we simply must learn to live for ourselves. How can a person love himself if he considers his skills to be nothing?
Why does this happen?
We don’t know how to take responsibility for our actions and what happens in our lives. We don’t learn to love ourselves, but we look pleadingly into the faces of others, hoping that someone will love us.
Even as adults, we are constantly waiting for approval and praise, they make us feel better, we feel that we are good and doing well.
Strangely enough, we constantly behave as if we were pets waiting for approval from our owners. That’s what cats do, bringing another mouse to their master’s feet. “Look, master, how good I am!”
That’s what we do when we come to our parents and expect their approval. We expect to be praised for our decisions, our actions, our deeds. We come like a pet to its master.
You can keep carrying around caught mice in the hope of praise, or you can do what you want to do and learn to take responsibility for your own life. And learn to love yourself. Stop thinking about what your parents would like.
Stop doing what your parents would approve of. Start doing what you want to do. Strive to do the things what you want and not your parents.
When you stop conforming to the opinions and tastes of others, then you can find yourself and love yourself and in that way …increase your self-esteem…. Then your life will change.
We constantly compare ourselves to others, but never to ourselves. Both women and men compare themselves to others. Women think her hips are fuller than her neighbor’s and her hair isn’t as shiny as her coworker’s. Men think their salaries are lower than everyone they know and their hair is rarer than their own brother’s. The list could go on and on.
But why would a woman never think that her hips have become more rounded and attractive than they were a year ago? 
Why does she compare her shape to that of her neighbor?
Why doesn’t a man want to consider that his current salary fully covers his expenses and allows him to save, it is more than he has ever had in his life? Why does he compare his income to that of others?
When we compare ourselves to ourselves, we grow. Our self-esteem begins to grow, but it doesn’t become inflated; it becomes adequate. When we compare ourselves with others, we are constantly under stress. And is it possible to love yourself while under stress?
Our talent is not our property.
We do not realize that our talent is not our property. The moment we realize this, life will become much easier. We will stop devaluing our talent because it does not belong to us: we need to thank the Higher Powers for it and share our talent. As long as we are open to both sides of the channel – the talent will not run out.
It is the same with love and happiness. As long as we share, we will receive more love and happiness from above. As soon as we become greedy and don’t share, but demand from others, those gifts will stop coming from above.
Don’t think that self-love is selfish and narcissistic. It is not. We are God’s creatures, so by loving ourselves, we love God’s creation. We should value our skills and talents because they are gifts from God. We should trust in ourselves because we have God’s plan for us. Feel free to accept gratitude for our skills and talents. We must accept them in order to be able to give them to the Higher Powers.
And then there will be harmony and grace within you. Realize your talents, think of them as unique. And then you will feel needed, you will improve this world. You will love yourself.
With love and faith in you, Maria Shakti.
