"I'm so proud of me"

"I'm so proud of me", said Missy on Sunday.

I'm so proud of her because for someone who clearly has self-esteem issues, these are massive words for her to say.  More than once in the last week she has questioned if anyone loves her, decided she wasn't pretty, hates her hair and is forever comparing herself to other girls in her class.

It's sad a 6 year old is thinking this way and not loving life with optimism.  Children with low self-esteem find many aspects of life challenging and great sources of anxiety.  Their first thoughts are "I can't do this" and even if they do manage something, often they still won't believe their ability.  Of course, it's not just adoptees that suffer from low self-esteem.  I have experienced low self-esteem for a great deal of my life. In some situations I can be confident and assertive but other situations can leave my floundering.  Having low-esteem is hard work, it  makes life hard work and so I really want to help Missy build her self-esteem.

So, the reason Missy was proud of herself was because we took part in the Sport Relief Mile and she ran like the wind.  She has run a few milers before, around where we live, but this was her first ever race.  A little overwhelmed at first by the huge crowds, she soon started to enjoy the occasion.  Unfortunately Mummy couldn't keep up (dodgy hip) and had to walk some of the way but I was never too far behind Missy and Daddy who let her take the lead.  She ran virtually every step of the way and raced through the finish line to clock 12 minutes 50 seconds, her best ever time for the mile.  Best thing for Missy was that she got a medal. Best thing for us was that she knew and accepted she had done well.