Having worked in the field of Mental Health, the term 'Self Worth' has been used quite often. Its one of those concepts that most people try to wrap their heads around in therapy. It can be a bit tricky to understand what it means at first. However, when you begin with self work in or out of therapy, it gets clearer over time. So, what is Self Worth?
The word 'Worth' means value. Self worth means to know your own value. Knowing your own value can really be a game changer. But how do we get to this point? Knowing your Self Worth is a discovery process and remembering it is a practice. The reason I say it is a discovery process is because Worth is always there. We are already worthy! However, we have either forgotten about it or have not been exposed to it yet. So how are we already worthy you may ask?
Think about it for a minute. We as human beings are all created the same way. We are made from all the same material. We have blood in our veins and arteries. bones, fat, muscles, cells and tissues. Its all the same. Yes, we may have a few differences in the way they are expressed, for example, our blood groups might be different or we may be shorter or taller, but our blood is made out of the same cells. So we are all essentially made up from the same elements. Then how is one person more worthy than another?
All of us are the same. Our worth is also the same. We are all already worthy and if you will, Equal. So what is it that makes us who we are? It is our expression of that worth. How do we express our true selves, without any masks, without any walls, without any facade? Now again, who we are is different from being worthy. That we have already established. Rather, sharing our unique qualities with the world and building our lives around these qualities makes all the difference. And where do we find these unique qualities? Within us! So we need some amount of 'Soul Searching' to be able to really find who we are. This is what I call the discovery process. Discovering your worth and the qualities that express it.
Now that we have information about our own worth, the next step is to practice using this information in our daily lives. We have to remind ourselves almost every now and then that we are worthy no matter what! Our achievements, our social or financial status, our lifestyle, none of that defines us. They are essentially ways of expressing our worthiness. But don't let any of it fool you into believing that you are unworthy or not good enough if you don't have some of it or any of it yet. When we start evaluating our worth on the basis of external information, we start living with fear. Fear of not having enough, of not being and doing enough. So we need to look in and remind ourselves that we are worthy anyway. And this will in turn help us let go of fear and accept our true selves. And striving for anything from a mindset of love and acceptance gives us much more than what a mindset of fear can give.
So reminding yourself everyday that you are worthy is your ticket to living a fulfilled and joyful life. It brings us much more contentment and enthusiasm to live life. Of course it seems like hard work in the beginning, but it gets much easier as we practice it more often. So now if you ask yourself 'Am i really worthy'? you know what to tell yourself. "You are worth it!"