HAVE A LITTLE FAITH
work and revision getting on top of you? Riddled with self-doubt? It's all a matter of having faith in yourself says Sheena Evans

FEELINGS of self-doubt and alienation are not uncommon. You may be a person comfortable in one area of your life, but totally uncomfortable in another. Maybe you may find it easy to communicate in friendships, but not in romantic relationships.

How do we interact with the rest of the world? Have you asked yourself the following questions?

If there are no strangers, why do I often
feel so separate from those around me?

If everyone should be accepted as
equal, why do I often feel so inferior?

Why when I'm included, do I still
feel like an outsider looking in?

Part of the answer to these questions is the way we are conditioned by our parents and/or society to perceive ourselves relative to other human beings. Unfortunately we are 'supposed' to exist in this society as a SOMEBODY. A Somebody is usually defined as a person who has achieved external success. As a result, our self-worth is dependent on factors such as, money, status, power, personality, intellectual excellence and looks. Instead of the feelings and loyalties that lie within. Consequently, becoming a Somebody is the source of our motivation in life, but if it is not achieved, we feel like a Nobody.

Ms Pike, a Senior Counsellor at the University of Sunderland claims that there are different reasons for having a low self-esteem and it is quite a frequent issue of people's concerns. Addressing topics involving self-development, the questions "Who am I?" and "What do I do with myself?" commonly arise. This subject is particularly prevalent in the students she counsels. Ms Pike also says "do not look round assuming everyone's better than you. They may be pretending." Many people follow a course of self-denial, whereby they pretend to outsiders that they are confident, but inside a part of themselves seeks understanding. The process of emotional healing will not evolve however, until they accept and acknowledge what they feel.

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*Picture of the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard Of Oz*