Having a low self-esteem can be a horrible and detrimental way to spend your life. It often interferes with everyday situations, creating not only confusion but also a discouraging sense of hopelessness. People with low self-esteems often try to appear confident and careless. However, they frequently do things or say things that make them feel stupid, and somehow, not good enough to fit in with the rest of society. When you have a low self-esteem, one thing that is particularly stressful is trying to talk to someone that you don’t know very well. The seemingly easy act of making conversation becomes disturbingly intimidating when you feel that you aren’t as good as the person you are talking to. For example, one incident that happened to me recently was when I was trying to make friends with a guy from one of my classes. I wanted to ask him what he was doing that evening, and if he’d like to do something with me. Instead, after starting to talk to him, I couldn’t stop thinking about how stupid I must seem. I tried to ignore the thoughts, but they forced their way into my head, making me stutter and forget what I wanted to say. After parting with him, I felt dumb and confused by what I’d done. I thought to myself, “What in the world just happened there? I feel fine now…” And for the rest of the day I wondered why I couldn’t just talk to someone without feeling inadequate. Another normal, everyday situation that low self-esteem complicates is the process of learning, especially in the classroom. One of my old classmates, Jason, had a particularly hard time in school because of his low self-esteem. Nobody realized it at the time, but the reason he never turned in projects or papers was because he didn’t think they were good enough. He often agonized over them, trying to make sure that they’d be as good as everyone else’s. He had a hard time finishing because he’...
