Self-Esteem #1 on my list!

Raising your children correctly so that they are:

·       Obedience

·       Hard working

·       Self-motivated

·       Humility

·       Resilience

·       Respect for others

·       Quality of courage

·       Responsibility

·       Cooperation

·       Self-esteem they see themselves in a positive light.

While I like this list and everyone of them is important when raising children, I think the one at the bottom of the list should actually be the first on the list. Having self-esteem is different then being prideful.  You can have self-esteem and be proud of who you are and know what you are capable of, without being prideful. I think sometimes that people think that cannot be proud of an accomplishment because that means they are prideful.  We tend to mix up the meanings of being proud and being prideful.

When you raise a child with self-esteem, they see themselves in a positive light.  All the other things on the list have an easier time falling into place.  A child with good self-esteem will be more obedient because they respect themselves and others. They are more willing to listen to directions. They are not obedient because they are forced to be obedient, they are obedient because the know it is the right thing to do.  I believe that self-esteem brings with it humility.  Someone with self-esteem will also be hard working. They understand that it takes work to do something worthwhile. Self-motivation come also comes with self-esteem, they do not wait around to be told what to do all the time. They can see something that needs to be done and jump in and do it.  As mentioned before a child with self-esteem also has humility, the world does not revolve around themselves and their needs, they understand others also have needs. Along with humility comes obedience. I believe they go hand in hand.

A child that has resiliency has self-esteem. They know that they can do and over come hard things. Respect for others goes along with humility and obedience. They understand that others have needs, they are more willing to listen to others and consider others needs, not just their needs and wants.  Courage, it takes courage to do hard things. Someone with self-esteem has courage to do hard things. They have courage to stand up for what the know to be right, they can stand up for others, they are willing to take on challenging tasks.

Responsibility goes along with courage, hardworking, self-motivated, resiliency, and I believe all these are qualities of a child with self-esteem. A child that is responsible understand their place in the family, with friends, in the community and eventually in the world. They understand there are not just responsibility to themselves but have a bigger understanding on what they do affects others. A child that is cooperative, again understands that doing their part helps others, and what they do affects others.

As I read through the list several times, I really believe that a child with self-esteem has all these other qualities. But the bigger question is what comes first, developing self-esteem, or self-esteem develops as a child learns the other qualities in their life?