Striving to thrive

We all want to thrive and succeed. We all want to be valued for who we are and what we do, at home, at the office and in the community. Very often we feel we are not thriving, succeeding or valued in any area of our lives. A lot of this comes down to our own lack of regard for ourselves.

We are last on our list of priorities, whether our needs are spiritual, mental or physical, everyone and everything makes the top of the list while we leave ourselves trailing behind. And no matter how much time, effort and money we expend on the front-runners they never seem to move off the list entirely and make room for us at the number one position.

One thing we can do is take five minutes in the evening to assess our performance for the day. Even if we have had an 'unproductive' day, we nevertheless completed some important tasks. We prepared meals, made at least one bed, dropped and fetched children from school or creche, supervised homework, listened to a friend, spouse or colleague with attention and sympathy, made somebody smile.

All of the above - and plenty more - are worthy of recognition and appreciation. They are all everyday tasks that you complete without even thinking about them, they are second nature. Value yourself for them, even if nobody else seems to.

Bear in mind, we all feel this way. We also need to show others that we appreciate and value them - we don't do this often enough. It only takes a hug, a smile and a 'thank you'.

Wouldn't a hug, a smile and a 'thank you improve your self esteem?