Esteem News 

24May2011

Esteem for each step in our life

Posted by Cecilia under: Philosophy.

We might think that our actions in life are just empty, a failure. We might think that only the goal we have in mind is important and the steps leading us toward this goal are just obstacles to overcome.

Nisargadatta Maharaj (”I Am That“) has an esteemful answer to these concerns: “There is no question of failure, neither in the short run nor in the long. It is like traveling a long and arduous road in an unknown country. Of all the innumerable steps there is only the last which brings you to your destination. Yet you will not consider all previous steps as failures. Each brought you nearer to your goal, even when you had to turn
back to by-pass an obstacle. In reality each step brings you to your goal, because to be always on the move, learning, discovering, unfolding, is your eternal destiny. Living is life’s only purpose.”

Each step in our life is important. It is important for us to give esteem to each one of them.

24March2011

The Fresh Air Fund gives esteem to children

Posted by Cecilia under: Education; Environment; Health; nature.

There are many ways to give esteem to children. One of them Fresh Air Fund is living.

The Fresh Air Fund, an independent, not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer vacations to more than 1.7 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877. Nearly 10,000 New York City children enjoy free Fresh Air Fund programs annually. In 2010, close to 5,000 children visited volunteer host families in suburbs and small town communities across 13 states from Virginia to Maine and Canada. 3,000 children also attended five Fresh Air camps on a 2,300-acre site in Fishkill, New York. The Fund’s year-round camping program serves an additional 2,000 young people each year.

Fresh Air children are boys and girls, six to 18 years old, who live in New York City. Children on first-time visits are six to 12 years old and stay for either one or two weeks. Youngsters who are re-invited by the same family may continue with The Fund through age 18, and many enjoy longer summertime visits, year after year. A visit to the home of a warm and loving volunteer host family can make all the difference in the world to an inner-city child. All it takes to create lifelong memories is laughing in the sunshine and making new friends.

This program is a real gift for children, but also for host families. If you’re interested in becoming a hosting family for this summer, the Fresh Air Fund is happy to give you all necessary information. What a great gesture of esteem toward children!

10October2010

Unconditional esteem - unconditional love

Posted by Cecilia under: Art and Culture; Story.

Honest esteem is as unconditional as love. It can be difficult to write what  unconditional love is about. Sometimes a little story can help to cast light on what unconditional love is such as this short story written by Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī. He is also  known to the English-speaking world simply as Rumi, a Sufi mystic, Muslim poet, jurist and theologian (1207-1273):

A man knocked at the door of his lover.
A voice asked: „Who is there?“
He answered: „It’s me.“
The voice said: „There is no place here for me and you.“
The door remained closed.
After one year of loneliness the man knocked at the door again.
A voice asked: „Who is there?“
He answered: „It’s you.“
The door was opened.

1October2010

Esteem for World Habitat Day

Posted by Cecilia under: Economy; Education; Politics.

There are numerous annual World Days designated by the United Nations to raise awareness for different themes and problems in our world. Today we want to give esteem to World Habitat Day which will be held on October 4, the first Monday of the month of October.

On Oct. 4, 2010, in recognition of World Habitat Day, Habitat for Humanity will raise awareness of the need for improved shelter and highlight Habitat’s priorities: the worldwide connection between human health and housing, and, in the United States, neighborhood revitalization. These themes echo the United Nations’ chosen theme for 2010 for events in the host city of Shanghai, China and the rest of the world: “Better City, Better Life.”

Habitat for Humanity hopes that by raising awareness and advocating for universal decent housing we can dismantle and alter the systems that allow for poverty housing and make an affordable, decent place to live a reality for all.

By giving public attention to World Habitat Day we give esteem toward housing generally and in our neighborhood.  We give esteem to the fact that housing improves health, has a positive impact on children and strengthens communities.

20September2010

Esteem for our wildlife

Posted by Cecilia under: Education; Environment; nature.

We were just visiting the Wildlife Refuge in Vermont made me think of the important mission of the National Wildlife Refuge Association which is: To conserve America’s wildlife heritage for future generations through strategic programs that protect, enhance, and expand the National Wildlife Refuge System and the landscapes beyond its boundaries that secure its ecological integrity.

When we want to give esteem to the wildlife of our country we can plan a visit of one of the numerous Wildlife Refuge places in our country. Observing the wildlife can create very esteemful thoughts toward animals, plants and landscapes making us think about how to conserve this rich beauty of our country.

8September2010

“They must be what they can be”

Posted by Cecilia under: Education; Philosophy.

Abraham Maslow, the man who proposed Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation”, said once: “They must be what they can be”.

He defined with this statement self-actualizing people. Self-actualization was first coined by Abraham Maslow. He explained it like this: “A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be. This is the need we may call self-actualization … It refers to man’s desire for fulfillment, namely to the tendency for him to become actually in what he is potentially: to become everything that one is capable of becoming …”

When we know about our talents and skills and we live them, we are self-actualizing, then we are what we can be.

Including esteem in our lives allows us to develop our self-esteem. Having a high self-esteem means that we know ourselves and we acknowledge ourselves in what we are and in what we do. Esteem creates a situation in which we can develop our own unique talents and we can live them. This is what Abraham Maslow defines with self-actualization.

5September2010

Lessons on Life

Posted by Cecilia under: Story.

I found this life story on the website of Masaru Emoto and liked it so much I want to share it with you.

There was an Indian Chief who had four sons.
He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly.
So he sent them each on a quest, in turn,
to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.
The first son went in the Winter, the second in the Spring,
the third in Summer, and the youngest son in the Fall.
When they had all gone and come back, he called them
together to describe what they had seen.
The first son said that the tree
was ugly, bent, and twisted.
The second son said no, it was covered
with green buds and full of promise.
The third son disagreed; he said it was
laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet
and looked so beautiful, it was the most
graceful thing he had ever seen.
The last son disagreed with all of them;
he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit,
full of life and fulfillment.
The Chief then explained to his
sons that they were all right,
because they had each seen but only
one season in the tree’s life.
He told them that you cannot
judge a tree, or a person,
by only one season,
And that the essence of who
they are and the pleasure, joy,
and love that come from that life
can only be measured at the end,
when all the seasons are up.
If you give up when it’s Winter,
you will miss the promise of
Spring, the beauty of Summer,
and the fulfillment of Fall.

This is a story speaking about esteem of its most real core.

1September2010

Esteem vs stereotyping

Posted by Cecilia under: Philosophy.

As esteem has a double impact on the persons being involved the same happens with stereotyping.  When we give esteem to the persons around us it helps them as well as ourselves.  Giving esteem encourages us in our own self-esteem and good feelings.

When we are stereotyping others it has the same negative impact on us as it has on the persons being touched by it.  The team of Michael Inzlicht, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Toronto found that stereotyping has a lasting negative impact on us.

In order to determine whether negative stereotyping in a particular situation had lasting effects, Inzlicht’s team performed a series of tests. They placed participants in situations where they had to perform a task in the face of negative stereotyping. After the participants were removed from the prejudicial situation, researchers measured their ability to control their aggression, eat appropriate amounts, make rational decisions, and stay focused.

Their results show that prejudice and stereotyping have lingering adverse impacts.

Living esteem prevents us from stereotyping by two reasons. First we realize that everything we do has the same impact on us as it has on the people.  Second esteem makes us see people in their own uniqueness which prevents us from stereotyping.

17August2010

Self-esteem and intrinsic value

Posted by Cecilia under: Philosophy.

We line ourselves up with our fellow men in order to receive love.  This is the reason why we assess our own intrinsic value according to how our fellow men value us.  When we are praised we feel good.  When we’re reproached our self-confidence decreases immediately and we feel bad.

On which basis do we value ourselves?  With high self-esteem we can handle critics or reproach better.  A high self-esteem means that we know us in who we are and in what we do.  Doing so we don’t need to line ourselves up with our fellow men.  We know that we are unique as well as each other person is unique.

4August2010

How positively do we see others?

Posted by Cecilia under: Art and Culture; Philosophy; Science.

Did you ever watch yourself when you speak about others?  The kind of how you speak about others and how you see others reveals more about yourself than about the persons.

How positively you see others is linked to how happy, kind-hearted and emotionally stable you are, according to new research made by Wake Forest University psychology professor Dustin Wood and his team. The researchers found a person’s tendency to describe others in positive terms is an important indicator of the positivity of the person’s own personality traits.

This study confirms what esteem is creating in our lives.  By giving esteem toward others we give esteem toward ourselves. When we see others in a positive way we speak about them in positive words and reveal with it how positive we are ourselves. Esteem creates esteem.