Niamh, the importance of having a healthy sense of self-worth and self-esteem is something I had to come to grips with when I was a child, and it seems that whenever I forgot the lesson, life was all too ready to school me in remedial lessons. Reading others’ essays and recognizing those emotions moved me to write this essay. Getting this idea out of my head and onto digital paper in a way that I thought would make sense and not be a tome was a real challenge.

Thank you and everyone who’s left positive comments. You’ve confirmed that despite the angst or challenge in writing, sometimes there’s a benefit for others that far outweighs my immediate discomfort.

❤