“So you want to be yourself
and still be liked.

Is this possible? What if you really liked yourself and if others liked you, great, and if they didn’t, that would be okay too? Wouldn’t that be a nice feeling not to care if everyone liked you?”

Liking yourself means others
can’t affect you

“Having self-esteem is very powerful. When you have confidence and satisfaction in yourself, you make decisions that are good for you, like leaving parties that make you feel uncomfortable, or telling boys, “No thanks, I just want to hang with my friends,” or wearing the clothes that you like. Having self-esteem and liking ourselves means others can’t affect you.”

If it takes sex to keep a boyfriend,
he isn’t worth having.

“When we treat sex in a casual way, our self-esteem is most vulnerable. Having sex to get someone to like you, or to stay with you, never works and will leave you “emotionally torn into pieces.” You don’t need to get anyone to like you or to accept you if you like yourself. And if it takes sex to keep a boyfriend, he isn’t worth having. Let him go!”

“When you don’t take care of yourself inside and out, it makes you feel bad. When you feel bad on the outside, your insides are also being damaged. When your eating habits affect the way you look, you say things to yourself that might not be good for you to hear—especially coming from yourself.”