What Is The Theme Of Why Self-Compassion Is Better Than Self Esteem

In "Compassion and the Individual," Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama, describes a good person as a person who is compassionate towards everyone and everything. Towards the end of his essay, Gyatso states, “I believe that at every level of society - familial, tribal, national and international - the key to a happier and more successful world is the growth of compassion.” He says that people should be compassionate to not only friends but enemies too. This is a very superior quality for a good person, although, I believe there are certain exceptions. Also, towards the end of the middle it states, “We should begin by removing the greatest hindrances to compassion: anger and hatred.” If a person removes ager from their life, then they

Comparing ourselves to others is a natural, healthy way to gauge how we are doing in life. However, when we compare our everyday-lives to others only-positive-lives, it becomes unhealthy. As we go on social media, we need to remember to look at everything through a filter because people aren't quite as perfect as they seem. “I later discovered that the classmate who I thought landed a job at NPR was really just an intern. And Payton discovered her friend who landed a killer job after college only did so because her dad had a connection on staff”(Friedlander). I love taking pictures, so consequently I follow a lot of photographers on instagram. There is this one guy who always takes magnificent photos almost everyday and it's hard not to compare yourself to that. Just this last week he shared a photo where he missed this small, but impactful, setting and it ruined his picture with a great sunrise. I think that picture was one of my favorites because it reminded me that he isn't perfect, and in fact has difficulties like I do. Everyone can get in this rut of always comparing yourself to others. While the constant comparisons we are forced to endure through social media aren't a huge deal for some, they can be the pushing or breaking point for someone already struggling with mild depression. Social media is only a part of the now very modernized world we live

Are people born with a complete quandary when it comes to compassion or is it something that has always been there? Barbara Lazear Ascher, born in 1946, writes, “On Compassion.” Having lived in New York City, Ascher is able to take first hand examples from the city to show the affection people have towards each other. Ascher is able to illustrate that compassion is something that has to be taught because of the adversity at people’s heels by including tone, persuasive appeals, and the mode of comparing and contrast in her essay, “On Compassion.”

Whether we realize it or not, test scores play a vital role in many people’s self esteem. A person who frequently scores high will be confident that they are very intelligent and will expect others to see them that way. Asimov attested to this when he stated, “All my life I’ve been registering scores like that, so that I have the complacent feeling that I’m highly intelligent, and I expect other people to think that too.” (Asimov, 536). On the other hand, those who score low on tests often write themselves off to be unintelligent. Emphasis on the importance of the ACT or SAT test scores can lead an adolescent to conclude that he or she is not capable of succeeding in college and lead them to not pursue higher education. The tragedy is that we may pass on opportunities because we have labelled ourselves unintelligent based on a test score which is not a true refelection of our

The purpose of this essay is to question the readers. Ascher wants the audience to analyze themselves to determine the reason behind why people show kindness, whether it is out of fear, pity, or compassion.

The essay, On Compassion By Barbara Lazear Ascher, addresses the subject by going beyond the origin and reasoning for compassion. Her interpretation of compassion involves the way people are able to empathize with it. The use of rhetorical devices allows the author to adequately teach readers the idea of compassion. The use of organization, figurative language, and ethos allows her to convey the concept of compassion through her feelings. Her portrayal grants readers the ability to express compassion in their own way.

Often when using the words of empathy and compassion, many people envision them as having similar meaning. While they may share similar circumstances, they are actually quite different. Empathy is more of an emotional response with an understanding of a person’s particular situation; whereas compassion is an emotion that arouses an active response to alleviate a distressful situation. Nevertheless, these dissimilar expressions are paramount in the way people respond to the individual needs of others and how they reach out to others in their local communities. Barbara Lazear Ascher’s essay “On Compassion” not only creatively offers a very detailed description of the day in the life in New York City, but effectively draws a picture of

Most people face self esteem problems at different levels. At some point in life people face this problem without realizing it. In the essay The Trouble with Self-Esteem written by Lauren Slater starts of by demonstrating a test. Self esteem test that determines whether you have a high self-esteem or low self-esteem. The question to be answered however is; what is the value and meaning of self-esteem? The trouble with self-esteem is that not everyone approaches it properly, taking a test or doing research based of a certain group of people is not the way to do so.

Self esteem is how an individual evaluates their worth as a person. It is not a person’s talents or abilities or how they are seen by others It is seen as the feeling of not being good enough. However, that does not mean people with high self esteem view themselves as

A person with a strong sense of self esteem will have a more positive outlook on life and will be strong enough to handle difficult situations through life.

My moms raised me with a strong set of morals, including “hard work pays off.” Sometimes this can be discouraging when you work hard, but it doesn’t pay off as you’d like it to. I’ve always gotten the grades I strive for without much struggle. However, once high school started, everything changed. I’d work for weeks on a scholarship essay, and I wouldn’t even place. I’d work for months to get something published and then read other people’s names in the congratulations announcement. I’d constantly wonder: Who’s at the top of the class? Who’s going to win the end of year awards? When you consistently get the grades that I do, people just expect those grades. No one congratulates you on your hard work anymore, and you don’t always get recognized. Despite the lack of recognition, I still take pride in my grades, and continue to work hard. Getting great grades is something I know I can do, even when it’s difficult to do. The difficulty makes it even more satisfying when I see the hard work pay off, and I get the grade I wanted. I’ve encountered

Usually in my life I will experience a few negative emotions and thoughts and then briefly affirm that what I am believing is untrue and then switch my mind to something different. I also have journals that I will write in every once in a while, but it isn’t something I use for overcoming negative emotions. Coming from a conservative, religious family I have always heard that meditation is bad. While Neff practices Buddhist meditation and uses some of these ideas in her programs to teach self-compassion, after listening to one of the meditation podcasts, I can see the benefit. The meditation practices she developed helps one relax, become more self-aware, and focused on thoughts of love and compassion not only towards oneself but also towards others. Another aspect that I had not taken into consideration is the difference between self-compassion and self-esteem. As Neff explains, self-esteem is basically one’s perceived value and worth; however, it is contingent on how one is compared to another. I have never looked at self-esteem being a problematic, negative term, now I understand the aspects of it that can be detrimental to ones well-being. Always striving to have high self-esteem leads us to put other people down in the process, it also insinuates that we have to be perfect and better to be worthy, which is the opposite of what Neff’s concept of self-compassion entails. Our society thrives on the idea that one has to be better than their counterpart, what we lack is this idea of self-compassion. Therefore, I think it would be very beneficial to teach self-compassion in children; this may lead to an overall more compassionate generation that flourishes on how we can help each other and ourselves

"The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reel."(Alexa) The more you compare yourself to others, the more you will be negatively effected. An experiment conducted by Science Direct measured womens moods after browsing through social media for ten minutes. The scientists found social media use can put women in a more negative mood where they make more appearance comparisons, making them want to change their face, hair and skin. "According

In today’s world, technology is at its peak. However, there was a time when things were getting evolved and websites were created to connect and socialize. For example, Facebook was created with the intent of connecting with people, but it rather forced people to compare each other’s live, which made some people sad. It became successful, but not completely successful. Libby Copeland’s essay, “Is Facebook Making us Sad,” addresses a key factor in how Facebook makes us sad, according to research and some expert testimony. One key factor that I would like to address in the essay, how humans compare their lives with others on Facebook, making themselves lonely and sad.

As early as I can remember, I always excelled in my classes. I felt like at the time I was without a doubt an above average student. I often recall my instructor Mrs. Shek from third-grade saying, “Wow you are smart Jonathan”. Even my fourth-grade instructor Mr. William’s would often write comments on my essays like “Good job you outdid yourself”. My self-esteem skyrocketed early on, confident in my ability to excel; I felt I was ready to take on the world. My teacher’s comments had reminded me of a quote from an article I read called, “Brainology” by Carol S. Dweck. Dweck stated “In the 1990’s, parents and schools decided that the most important thing for kids to have was self-esteem.” (2) Its said that if we felt good about ourselves, we would be set. Little was known of the consequences of