It's an obvious thought, but those of us who struggle with low self-esteem often spend our energy trying to be someone different and deeming ourselves unacceptable. We think we have to be perfect before we're allowed to feel good about ourselves. It takes daily effort to maintain low self-esteem, peppering our thoughts with punishing put-downs, convinced we'll never amount to anything. This pattern is debilitating, all consuming and permeates all attempts to enjoy life. We now live in an era of either/or, rather than both/and. We are being pitted against each other instead of encouraging us to be kind in our differences. The truth is, we will never be someone else and have to settle for being good enough as we are. This revelatory thought came one wet Monday morning, as I stood in my kitchen. The words began to burrow into my mental software and create a slow, but steady system change over years. I had to practice compassion towards my warty parts and learn to question and
