I kind of think I was born with low self esteem. People have always told me I'm beautiful/ smart/ talented. And I have an amazingly loving family but I remember even as early as kindergarten hating that I was bigger than the other girls and noticing that the smallest girl in the class got the most piggybacks. I didn't think of myself as fat, just that there was something wrong.
And when I'm told stories of me as a baby apparently I could just be left alone for a good half hour with no toys and I'd be content. And when I fell I'd pick myself back up. I still can simply sit and observe and when I'm hurt pyhsically/emotionally I avoid others but now I know why; I'm uncomfortable with attention and I don't want to be an attention seeker because no one wants to deal with my issues that I'm just making a big deal of.