Do I Need To Like Myself?

Yes! People who don't like themselves are a pain in the neck!

Usually, people with a poor self-image use one of two irritating strategies. They either:

a) criticize you a lot or

b) they criticize themselves a lot.

STRATEGY A: They criticize you a lot. They figure that by criticizing other people they can feel better about themselves.

Let's take Fred, who feels inferior. Fred thinks he has a big nose and piggy eyes. He also secretly feels a bit stupid.

So what's his strategy to feel better about himself? He criticizes all his friends. He has names for them like "Flathead", "Chicken Legs" and "Dogbrain". Whenever someone else makes a mistake, he announces it to the whole class. (He probably doesn't even realize he criticizes people—or why he does it.)

If you have parents, friends or brothers and sisters who don't like themselves—they might criticize you and everyone around them. Just remember that they criticize you because they have a problem. If you remember that they are actually hurting inside, you won't get so upset by their behaviour.

STRATEGY B: Some people who don't like themselves criticize themselves a lot. They use reverse psychology...

Take Mary who doesn't like herself. She's always telling you, "You are prettier than me. You are smarter. Nobody likes me." She's hoping that you will reply, "No Mary! You are clever. You are beautiful." After a while, people like Mary get on your nerves!

In a nutshell

When we don't like ourselves, we irritate other people. We also put ourselves through a lot of stress. When we accept ourselves a little better, we don't play these games.

How Can I Like Myself