What I tried to do, when I wrote that little essay, was to point out the things that are good about me - as a balance to all those things I wish I was, that I’m not. For example - I always wanted to be tall and thin, yet I’m short and curvy. But I have had more than one person in my life who liked my body and thought it was good the way it is. And (since this is supposed to be SELF-esteem) there has been more than one occasion when I have had to admit to myself that I looked pretty good.

Then I did the same thing with the other traits - I’m trying to make myself notice the good things about me.

My father was always very critical and never seemed satisfied with me. He was quick to point out the ways that I was less than perfect. He’s gotten a lot better over the years, but the damage was done when I was a little kid. I also got bullied by other kids sometimes.

I’ve been an IT technical writer for about 15 years. In my present job, I do more actual editing and rewriting - and I love that. I actually enjoy fixing badly-written documents.