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Wants2Fly said:
Yet here I am, often paralyzed by my fears. If we look at the title of this thread, lack of self-esteem can seem rather unimportant compared with some of the other serious diagnoses that some people who come here cope with.

Yet, I can say that lack of self-esteem has been a huge obstacle, it grows denser, higher, and deeper with each project I do not attempt, or attempt and fail at. I am much more lacking in self-esteem esteem now, in my 50s, than I was at 25.

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Yeah, as we hit middle age and see our time getting shorter for things we want to accomplish, that can be a little depressing and in some cases, hurt our self-esteem. A lot of it is from comparing ourselves to others. I do that too. At 49, it seems unlikely that I'm going to ever have a family, and at this age, I don't know if I'd want to start. Most of the time it doesn't bother me, but there are people out there who like to try to make you feel bad about things like that.

But I think the key to healthy self-esteem is accepting yourself as you are, foibles and all. It's about having goals and interests that drive you forward and make you look forward to each new day. It's about not comparing yourself to others, but just working towards being the person you want to be. It's also about setting achievable goals.

Self-esteem is about being the center of your life. I've said this before: it's about playing the leading role in your life.

The world is a fascinating place. There is a lot of bad in the world (i.e. the VT shootings) but that, in a way, makes life even more interesting and it makes what good there is, that much better.