One of the biggest misconceptions in this day and age is the meaning of humility. What the majority fail to understand is that it has nothing to do with putting ourselves down to lift others up. Instead, it has everything to do with taking ourselves out of the equation as a way to extend our encouragement to the outside world.
Unfortunately, our culture has been transformed into a training ground for the “me-me-me” mentality. Self-esteem, self-confidence, self-respect… these man made words were created to let governed sheep feel special, while allowing “professionals”, or modern day prophets, to make a profit, through books, therapies, etc. From childhood, we are told repeatedly that we’re missing something, whereas in reality, we were already born complete. Guess what? We don’t need to earn extra points to identify ourselves as human!
Self-esteem, as I clump the fabricated terminologies together, is not only pointless, but also a means for segregation, especially in the female gender. It’s an excuse that facilitates the discrimination between those who are considered attractive, unattractive, or average looking; categories that undermine our individuality. The lack of uniqueness they promote guarantees a market for emotional ambulance chasers, but in turn destroys the foundation of who we are.
As an example, Caucasian women are unofficially deemed the most beautiful group in the entertainment industry. Many races see it as an upper hand, but in actuality, is it a blessing or curse? When a White girl enters a resort in a foreign country, all the male employees ogle over her for no reason other than the fact that the media propagated their rules of attraction.
Sooner than later, the bias that should have been an advantage produces an environment where physical beauty becomes her only trait. It manifests a lie that the lighter skinned have no personality, while being a certain colour or having a large rear end is somehow cool. All of it spells disaster because the manifestation takes away the humanity of an innocent person. When lust is mixed in with apathy and envy is in the works because she is unaware of being in the lion’s den, a power struggle occurs and so does sexual assault.
This is where “self-esteem”, so-called, comes into play, but at what cost?
Our society is so skewed resulting from a collective mindset of conceit that the ripple effect has blurred the definition of encouragement as well. This is why you often see fathers, boyfriends, or husbands try to offer comfort by using themselves as a reason: “Everything is going to be okay. I’m here for you.” When you truly love someone though, it’s about telling her she will be fine, only if she decides to be strong enough. Caring means she has to be her own reason.
The truth remains. Human beings are inherently selfish creatures, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s our nature to take care of our own needs first. Self-esteem and its building blocks, however, are nothing more than products of invention that utilize external sources to serve as a cheap substitute for our original capacity to encourage ourselves. Our nature already gives us the sustenance to survive, meaning all of us are capable of selflessness, without being shortchanged. Life is a matter of choice.
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