I Hate Myself

QUESTION: Why do I hate myself?

ANSWER:

Do you catch yourself thinking, "I hate myself"? We hate ourselves for various reasons. Sometimes it is because we say the wrong things at the wrong time. Sometimes we hate ourselves for not living up to our own or another's expectations. The fact is that sooner or later most of us in our lifetime are going to utter the word's "I hate myself." The words "I hate myself" by themselves hold no power over us, but the problem starts when you begin to believe the words. Let's look at some of the reasons why you may come to hate yourself and how to deal with the problems.

• Rejection -We all must face rejection in our lives. Rejection from members of the opposite sex, rejection over a promotion at work, rejection at a life that does not measure up to the big plans we once had. Rejection will come, but we must not let it consume us. I have learned in the past that when rejection comes, it is not the end of the world. Sure, there are times I am depressed for a little while and there is a lot of self-examination, but over time I learned that rejection is not the end, but the beginning of something else.
  
  
• Love and Acceptance -It is human nature to want to feel the love and acceptance of others, but when it doesn't happen in our timetable, we often turn to ourselves as the source of our failure. When someone does not accept or show love to you, don't hate yourself for it. Rather, take time to consider the situation surrounding why you were not accepted or loved. In the end, you will realize (like I did) that not everyone is going to accept you and love you. If you stay true to who you are, sooner or later you will find the love and acceptance you are looking for.
  
  
• Hitting Bottom -Have you ever felt like you've hit bottom? I'm talking about those times when you say, "If I only had one break, I know I could get out of this situation I am in." I know I have had quite a few times like that in my life and it is not a nice feeling. Many times when we are at rock bottom we get depressed. Our depression can lead to self-pity and self-pity can cause us to say, "I hate myself" for not being able to get out of this.
  
  Most of the time when we hit rock bottom it is by circumstances of our own making. In our minds, we feel that since we are the one who caused the problem we should be the ones to get ourself out of the problem. When things continue to spiral downward, we start to play the blame game which always leads to wrong conclusions about ourselves. In the end, we start to hate ourselves for allowing things to get this bad. When you hit bottom, don't hate yourself. Swallow your pride and seek help elsewhere.
  
  
• I Make Mistakes -We all make mistakes. I know, I make my share of mistakes everyday. I have found that people are more prone to point out your mistakes than they are to praise you for what you are doing right. If you are not careful, you may start to think that your life is a mistake, which can lead to feelings of hatred towards yourself and others.
  
  I know my strengths and weakness and I am going to make more mistakes, but I can't let the mistakes get to me. I know it sounds simple and it will take work, but when you make a mistake, learn from it and move on.
  
  

Why do I hate myself? - There could be any number of reasons. The reasons I listed above are ones I have personally dealt with in the past. There were times I hated who I was and wanted to change myself so I could be like everyone else.

Then one day I realized that I am not like everyone else. I am me, so I set out to be me and I soon found that I no longer hated myself. I did not take the things that happened to me so personally anymore. I do not know if it will work for you, but isn't it worth a shot?