Is there a relationship between body image and self esteem? Is it the case that how we feel about our body controls how we feel about ourselves in general? Is it possible to give your self esteem a boost by improving your body image?
Self esteem would be how highly (or how lowly) we regard ourselves. If your self esteem is normal, or high, you believe in your potential to be a productive human being. While you are aware that there are things you can work on, you focus on making people see what you can do well. They are prepared to take responsibility for their lives. Regardless of our intelligence or physical strength, or lack thereof, you know that you can do something to live a productive life and make the most of what you have.
If you are the type who sees himself/herself in a pretty negative light, then this is a sure sign of low self esteem. They do not feel they are in control of what happens to them. They tend to speak and think of themselves in negative ways, and talk about what they cannot do or how unlucky they are. It would also be common to blame others for bad luck or things not going right. People with low self esteem, simply put, believe unhappiness, misfortune and misery are all in the cards, and that's the way it should be.
Of course the body is a large part of who we are. With that statement alone, it's easy to see that body image and self esteem are clearly connected to each other. Usually, people who have a low self esteem would see their body in an equally negative perspective. The pros are ignored, as they look at the cons of their body structure. Changing this body structure to them would be impossible. At the same time, they play down the strong or attractive physical qualities that they have.
One example is how the person reacts to compliments. If a man tells a woman "I think you have pretty legs", two things can happen. If the woman has a high sense of self esteem, she would thank the man for his compliment and think to herself that she ought to start wearing clothes that highlight those nice legs of hers.
A woman with a below average to low sense of self esteem would either laugh bitterly at the comment or give the gentleman a curt brush-off, thinking he might be trying to "score" with her. Another thing she may think would be "I must be pretty ugly, he said nice things about my legs so he won't have to tell me he can't stand the way I look."
If you're too fat, or too thin, body image and self esteem may be connected to one another. One such example of extreme body image would be anorexics, who continue to insist that they are fat despite being little more than skin and bones. No matter how their weight changes, they have trouble believing that they can be attractive.
Yet, anorexics make up a small percentage of those people who think they are fatter or uglier than they are. Let's think back to the time when you were a teen. Most teenagers have low self esteem at one time or another, and it is very common for teens to believe they are too fat or too skinny, or just plain ugly.
But if you look back on photos of yourself as a teenager after 10 years or more, you will see that in fact, you were fine. Sometimes all it takes is maturity or a few years to realize these things. So take the time to see your good points in the present, too.
Our perception of ourselves when we look at the mirror can greatly impact how we see ourselves as people. Body image and self-esteem, no doubt about it, are connected to each other, which means feeling good about your body could lead you to feel good about yourself as well.
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