Thursday, January 05, 2006

Self-worth

It's a difficult challenge to get through life if we define our sense of self-worth by those around us. Sure, a teacher can give us a grade, a boss can give us a raise, a parent can tell us we did well. But, there is a point in time where we have to decide for ourselves how we want to feel about ourselves.

If we wait for someone else to tell us how well we did, we may be waiting a really long time. If we need that encouragement from others -- which we all do from time to time -- we should find the environment that is supportive and positive. Should we need to express feelings to others that indicate we don't feel good about ourselves, we should first and foremost be honest about our feelings, but we should also realize that we don't have to accept feelings other than those we want to accept.

In creating an environment for growth, it's important that everyone has an opportunity to contribute, grow and learn. There's value in learning how to play the different positions even though you want the best players in their strongest positions at game time. Having the strong only do what they always have done doesn't lead to growth. At some point, the apex is reached. In a learning environment, the goal is growth.

No comments: