3 Tips for Teens: Remember Your True Worth
Back to school. A phrase that conjures up excitement, dread, nervousness, anticipation and the smell of sharpened pencils and clean white paper. It’s time for the laid-back days of summer to end and the competitive routine of classes, lunches and team try-outs to resume.
If you’ve attended Family Honor’s Real Love & Real Life program, you’ll remember learning about self esteem. Self esteem is simply how you feel about yourself and it can go up or down depending on what’s happening to you that day. A new school year can be a roller-coaster for your self-esteem as you meet new people, try new subjects and experience new disappointments.
No matter how you feel about yourself, though, it’s important to remember that your true worth comes from God—not how other people treat you. While self-esteem may go up or down depending on how you did on a math test or if your lab partner is cute, your true worth doesn’t change with your feelings. It comes from being created, loved and known by God.
As you prepare for the beginning of school by brushing up on your summer reading, re-stocking your notebook and cleaning out your book bag, think about what affects your self-esteem and how you can remind yourself of your true worth. Need some ideas? Try these:
* Make a point of having a meal with your family
Sometimes our families can drive us crazy, but even on the worst day it is the best place to be. We can get so caught up in the drama of school—worrying about who’s not talking to who and who thinks we’re funny—our family is an important refuge from it all!
* Spend less time on social networks and more time socializing
When we spend a whole night sitting at home scrolling through our Facebook, Instagram or Twitter news feed, it’s easy to think that everyone is having more fun than we are. If you spent that time hanging out with a friend, reading a book or watching a movie you can focus on having fun for yourself—not the fun everyone else is having.
* Remember what matters
When you feel overwhelmed, stop and ask yourself, “what will I think about this in five days? In five months? In five years?” God has made you unique—there are gifts and talents that you have that reveal Him to others in a way no one else can. Figure out what these are (through prayer and help from others) so that you can share them with the world!
[ http://familyhonor.org/read-our-new-parent-and-teen-tips-for-august/ ]