“You are what you do.” I heard someone say this on television the other day while it was droning in the background while I was on the computer.
These words resonated with me deeply. They are quite wise and utterly simple. You are what you do.
In the “Fostering Self-Esteem” workshops* I’ve led over the years as an independent parent educator and when I worked for Families First Parenting Programs, I outlined some of the components of positive self-esteem as follows.
Self-esteem is:
- How you feel about yourself.
- What you know yourself to be capable of.
- What you do (daily, weekly, regularly).
- What grounds and surrounds you (your beliefs and values).
- What is expected of and for you.
What you do is one of the things you have control over. For me, it is important to have music, beauty, books, good food, and laughter around me. These are the things that I do nearly every day.
- Notice and appreciate the beautiful things that I have and see the beauty that surrounds me in the world.
- Cook a delicious meal (even when the cupboard is bare – that’s making me even more creative).
- Listen to music.
- Read every single day (thanks again to the library making it possible in frugal times).
- Laugh – I have a friend who I talk to who is funny as hell. I also turn on the TV and watch comedy shows and sitcoms now and again, or a favorite silly movie like 40 Year Old Virgin or Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or, one that I can’t find frequently but will make me laugh as hard as I did the first time I saw it, Cold Turkey, directed by Norman Lear and starring Dick Van Dyke.
If you are what you do, then in this small moment, I’m doing well. (PTL)
*copyright 1996 by Candelaria Silva