<font color="purple">For me gaining self-esteem....is/was a very complicated process. I suppose it all began when I started opening up to people rather then shuting myself from them. From there, these bonds grew stronger, and as they grew stronger I felt a whole lot better in general. Feeling better in general (for me) was the first step that had to be taken in order to improve my self esteem, it was still a fairly long process...to undo a grand total of 8 years of being bullied (which at the time was over 1/2 of my life, but now is just a little under 1/2) but it's worth it. I'm still a work in progress though (I think everyone is ) but day by day I think I feel just a little better about myself, and more willing to accept myself. </font>