Self-Esteem: Interactions and Resilience

Interactions:

At the IAYG meeting on April 28, the group focused on brainstorming factors that influence how people approach and connect with one another. Anu Aunty divided the factors into two categories: those that are “above the iceberg,” factors that a person possesses that attract one to want to approach them, and factors that are “below the iceberg,” which are internal traits, conflicts and emotions that motivate an individual to interact with the other person.

Resilience:

Resilience gets us through hardships in life, and the more resilient you are the higher your self esteem can be. Self esteem is very important when connecting to others, because it helps your level of confidence. And while it is important to mourn at our sorrows, resilience empowers us to “bounce back” on our feet and solve our issues. Anu Aunty demonstrated the idea of self-resilience with the “red circle experiment.” This experiment allows individuals to envision how their stress levels change due to increasing self criticism. When the circle is brought closer to the individual, the person’s judgement and self esteem become “crowded,” like the circle. Individuals then come up with strategies to help lower their stress levels and increase their self esteem -- this results in an outward push of the red circle and a clearer judgment.