I heard a great line today – Self esteem has nothing to do with self. The idea went on to explain that self esteem has everything to with our perception of others winning/doing better than us, and almost nothing to do with how we are doing.
I was thinking about it as I went to the gym in the evening, which is unusual. And, of course, the gym was much fuller than what I’m used to. More people prefer 630pm to 630am. But, of course..
I was on the treadmill and happened to take a glance at the mat. There was one guy on the mat. And he happened to be a perfect example of a perfect male specimen. Now, thanks to the holiday season, I’ve been off my regular exercise for a few weeks and have been feeling unfit. Increasing walking and climbing stairs instead of taking the lift every day hasn’t helped the feeling. And seeing a perfect male specimen during my first time back at the gym definitely didn’t help!
In essence, my self esteem took a beating.
I went right back to my running. A few minutes later, I glanced at the mat again. Our perfect male specimen had been replaced by two others who were struggling with a couple of exercises I had no trouble with.
Suddenly, I felt like Brad Pitt.
Need I say more?
A Learning a Day 