2 . What Are the Roots of Your Self-Esteem?

Self-esteem is a person’s subjective assessment of his or her worth to himself or herself. Self-esteem covers various beliefs about oneself (such as “I’m a failure” and “I’m beautiful”) as well as physiological states, including sadness, joy, and shame. When we don’t believe that we are worthy of these things, our ability to enjoy them can suffer.     1     The more we believe that we are worthy of happiness and good things in life, the more self-fulfilled we will be.

Healthy self-esteem as an adult can be a gift given in your childhood. It is a blessing that most people overlook. There are so many ways adults with high self-esteem were supported as children that resulted in them having high self-esteem. For instance, they were praised for what they had achieved.

    2     They likely experienced affection and were given enough attention. It is also possible that they excelled in studies or in sports and were admired for it by peers.

    3     As children, many of these people were criticized, yelled at, or abused in one way or another. There is also a high chance that they were given no attention by the adults who were supposed to care for them. In some cases, adults with poor self-esteem were often ridiculed for their shortcomings or bullied by peers.

It is common that these adults also believe that in order to be appreciated they need to be perfect.     4     There are people who are obsessed with their careers or hobbies because in their mind they need to tie their worthiness to something concrete. Oftentimes these people have to pretend to be something they are not just to get approval.

How you feel about yourself impacts how you live your life. People with high self-esteem tend to have better relationships than those with low self-esteem. High self-esteem enables you to ask for help and support from the people around you when you need it.     5    

Nowadays, most students in our school don’t do sports for kinds of reasons.

Yours sincerely,

Li Hua

9 . The first day at school has left a deep _________ on me. I’ll never forget it.

As soon as I rushed into the classroom, the bell rang. A young beautiful woman came in, but she was _________, no smile on her face. “You are not permitted to _________ me during the class unless...” She was speaking when I heard a _________ “Lily, Lily” from outside the door. My grandmother was standing there with a pair of socks in her hand. I didn’t realize I was bare feet _________ then. I wanted to get them, but I dared not do that. I shook my hand, _________ “Don’t wait here any longer. Leave quickly.” As I did so, I still _________ my eyes on my teacher. I really didn’t want her to take _________ of me, but she did. She went out to get the socks. When she gave them to me, she looked at me for a while. My face suddenly turned _________ and my heart beat faster. I began to put the socks on. Unfortunately, I was so nervous that my __________ hands couldn’t get them onto my feet easily. Just then I heard my name called. I rose from my seat quickly. “Can you count the numbers from one to one hundred?” the teacher asked. I nodded. __________ her surprise, I did very well. Finally she said, “Be __________, please. Study hard.” I looked up at her to find a smile on her face. I felt __________ at last.

The first day at school has stayed in my __________ as something embarrassing but __________.

“Mom！” I screamed as I looked through the window, “Why is my Ink Spot sitting in Mrs. Cleary’s window？”

Mom pushed past me to confirm it. Sure enough, across the street was Ink Spot cleaning himself in the window of Mrs. Cleary’s sitting room. I couldn’t believe my eyes. He was my cat, not Mrs. Cleary’s. She had already adopted twelve cats. Why must she keep my cat？I could feel anger boiling up inside me. Meanwhile, Ink Spot’s leaving without any signs upset me. A sense of being left out hit me hard.

Ink Spot was special for me. After my baby sister’s birth, “my” parents’ time was taken by her. It seemed no one in the family cared about or even noticed me. Worse still, I was packed off to a kindergarten. I hated being left out from the bottom of my heart.

It was when mom noticed me weeping in a corner one night that things began to change. After that, Ink Spot came into my life. Every night, he curled（卷曲）up beside me in bed and he was there for me after school when I raced home just to be with him.

I fell in love with Ink Spot the first time I saw its tiny black and white kitten, for which I called him Ink Spot. Mom and daddy beamed with pleasure as my eyes danced with joy again. It was the first time that I had smiled since my little baby sister came into the family. As for me, he was more than a cat. Actually, he was my life.

But today when I came home, Ink Spot was in Mrs. Cleary’s window. I wanted him back. But mom insisted that if Ink Spot stayed at Mrs. Cleary’s, that meant it was where he wanted to be. “No！Mom, Ink Spot is my cat”, I protested wildly but I had to admit the truth of mom’s words. Standing on the sidewalk, I was at a loss as to what to do. Staring at Ink Spot for a while, I couldn’t stand the anger any longer.

I walked towards Mrs. Cleary’s house hurriedly and knocked at the door angrily.

Upon seeing me, Ink Spot jumped off the window, running towards me in a flash.