Esteem News 

28August2008

Being and having esteem

Posted by Cecilia under: Philosophy.

It may seem strange but there is really a small difference between being esteem and having esteem.

Having esteem carries with it the shade of living esteem in daily life by always consciously thinking of it.  This reflects the beginning state of integrating esteem in our life.

Being esteem goes one step further.  It means that esteem is so deeply a part of our personality that we just live esteem without having to remind ourselves that we should give esteem to our fellow men.

Being or having esteem - where do you stand?

27August2008

Does being able to walk mean dignity?

Posted by Cecilia under: Health.

Engineer Amit Goffer of Haifa, Israel created a device called ReWalk which allows people who are paralyzed to walk again.  This is a great news for paralyzed people who hopefully will be able to walk again.

The moving story of Radi Kaiof, who thanks to ReWalk can walk after 20 years of being in a wheelchair, sums it up in these words: “It’s not just about health, it’s also about dignity.”

When we think about how to express esteem in our daily life we shouldn’t forget to include people who are in wheelchairs. 

Looking down at somebody doesn’t mean giving less esteem.  If the other person is in a wheelchair it doesn’t change the esteem we give toward this person.

Dignity and esteem should be given to everybody.

26August2008

Esteem and compliments

Posted by Cecilia under: Philosophy.

Getting compliments usually creates a good feeling - for both the one who is giving the compliment and for the one who is getting it.

Compliments are sometimes like sudden sunshine.  With a compliment we tell another person something positive about her or him - such as a friendly word about having lost weight. 

Compliments can also be directed toward a work or a character. 

In each case compliments are like spoken esteem.  They give courage and help for the self-esteem of the other person.

25August2008

Esteem and friendliness

Posted by Cecilia under: Philosophy.

We can’t hide friendliness because it draws a very public sign on our face: smiles.

When we think about friendliness we realize its deepness.  True friendliness means that we give toward our fellow men esteem without expecting that we get esteem back.

Friendliness comes out of genuine esteem.  True esteem is given for free and abundantly.  We will be able to live friendliness in our daily life when we give friendliness to ourselves.

A Chinese proverb is expressing this wonderfully:  “When I carry a green branch in my heart, a songbird will alight on it.”

24August2008

Esteem through art

Posted by Cecilia under: Art and Culture.

Art is one expression of a culture.  It’s a direct way of experiencing the way of life of a certain group of people.

This weekend we visited the Indian Market event in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  We were impressed by the abundant variety of artistic expression.

There were thousands of visitors from filling the streets and enjoying all the creative artists and their wonderful artworks. 

The display of esteem was mutual.  The visitors, some coming from far away, showed their excitement about the artworks and their esteem toward the artists.  The artists gave esteem toward the visitors by gently explaining their works.

Esteem expressed through art on a very grand scale.

23August2008

Esteem and honesty

Posted by Cecilia under: Philosophy.

Everybody has at some point in their life learned that honesty always works out.  Esteem is strongly connected with honesty.

When we are honest toward our fellow man we give the impression of being reliable.  This feeling is important for being trusted because then we can speak without having to prove that our words are true.

We want to include esteem in our lives.  For that it’s essential that we are honest.  Esteem needs reliability to be genuine. 

Living esteem daily means therefore that honesty is one of our habits.  Only when we show that we are honest can our fellow men trust our esteem toward them.

22August2008

Lowering the legal drinking age

Posted by Cecilia under: Education; Health.

The legal age for drinking alcohol is 21 in the U.S.  There are discussions that lowering this age would encourage college students to drink less because it would reduce the attraction for underage drinkers.

In Europe the legal age for drinking alcohol is 18.  In certain countries even teenagers of 16 can drink beer.  Studies show that students aren’t drinking markedly less alcohol in Europe.

The basic thought of making students drink less alcohol could be more a matter of esteem or lack of esteem. 

Why are young people drinking too much alcohol?   One reason may be that young people try to get esteem of the group they want to belong to.  If they had a strong self-esteem they don’t need to do certain things such as drink alcohol to get esteem.

Students with a healthy self-esteem are easier able to develop a responsible handling with alcohol.  Everybody can help them just by giving esteem.

21August2008

Global esteem can help

Posted by Cecilia under: Economy.

Medical students at Rush University in Chicago started an interesting project called Rush Remedy.  This project sets an example for global esteem.

Rush Remedy collects unused medical supplies from hospitals and ships them to developing countries.

Esteem is first of all a personal act from person to person.  There is also global esteem from country to country. 
Global esteem means that people of different countries understand each other and their situations.

An exchange of supplies can be one way to show esteem toward other countries.  Esteem can be transferred from the personal level to a global level by keeping all its basic thoughts of acknowledgment. 

20August2008

Don’t forget yourself

Posted by Cecilia under: Philosophy.

There are people who give their lives for their fellow men while they forget themselves.  They help, they listen, they give esteem and offer their understanding.

Sooner or later they feel a strange emptiness in themselves.  They feel simply tired because they don’t give time and esteem to themselves.

Giving esteem to others is great, makes you feel good and paints a smile on people’s faces. 

Don’t forget yourself.  This means give yourself self-esteem.  A strong self-esteem allows us to give time and respite for ourselves.  Strengthened like this we are able to give esteem in our daily life.

19August2008

Savoir vivre

Posted by Cecilia under: Philosophy.

Savoir vivre is a French expression which means being casual in dealing with other people and with life situations.

We can choose to live savoir vivre each day.  We can be querulous and make other people unhappy.  Or we can be friendly and make others smile because they feel accepted.

Making other people happy is a sign that we use esteem as basis of our savoir vivre.