Others happy with me vs. me happy with myself
Larissa Walkiw
Merry Orthodox Christmas to those who celebrate, and happy Monday to the rest of you!
Today’s new poll question is a bit of a noggin-buster for me – I really have to think about it.
The question for this week’s poll is of the ‘Would you rather’ variety:
Would you rather:
a) Have high self-esteem, or
b) Be highly esteemed by others?
I still don’t know what to choose.
The way I see it, if you were to have high self-esteem, you wouldn’t have to care about what others think about you. But what if others despised you? What if the way you lived upset or hurt others, but you couldn’t identify or correct your behaviour because of your strong self-assurance?
On the flipside, being highly esteemed by others doesn’t guarantee that you’re happy with yourself. You could be completely aware of how damaging your poor self-image is, but not be able to do anything about it for the fear of being looked down upon.
It’s natural to want the best of both worlds, but when a question is drawn down the middle like this, it’s a catch twenty-two. Would it be best if you were happy with who you are (at the expense of others), or if others were happy with who you are (at your expense)?
What do you think? Answer this week's poll question.
Still thinking it over,
Larissa
P.S. If you have an idea (serious or silly) for next week’s poll question, please send it my way: youngfreealberta@gmail.com
