Where Does Self-Worth Come From?

Anthony De Mello addresses where self-worth comes from? He asks: Do you get it from success in your work? Do you get it from having a lot of money? Do you get it from attracting a lot of men if you’re a woman or a lot of women if you’re a man?  Have you ever stopped to think, how fragile all that is, how transitory. So where do you find it?

Transcript

Self-worth, Where do you get it from? Do you get it from success in your work? Do you get it from having a lot of money? Do you get it from attracting a lot of men if you're a woman or a lot of women if you are a man? How fragile that is, How transitory. And when we talk about self-worth, Are we not talking really about how we are reflected in the mirrors of other people's minds? Do we need to depend on that? One understands one's worth when one no longer identifies or defines oneself in terms of these transient things. One no longer does that. I'm not beautiful because everyone says I'm beautiful. I'm really neither beautiful nor ugly. These are things that come and go. I could be suddenly transformed into a very ugly creature tomorrow, But I is still I. And then again after plastic surgery, I become beautiful. Does the I really become beautiful? See, You'll need to give a lot of time to reflect on these things. But if you would take time out to understand what I have been saying, To dwell on it about how we are reflected in the mirrors of other people's minds, How one understands one's worth when one no longer identifies or defines oneself in terms of these transient things. My, You have a gold mine there.

Reviews

Transience is permanent … ❤️

This is very interesting and worth listening to many times over.

Thank you from Brussels

Thank you for this talk. Interesting point. I agree. I need to practice seeing my self worth more as a form of an inward journey of discovering peace in this ever changing world. For we can only cultivate peace in others when we have first cultivated peace within ourselves. And I need to focus less and less on self worth as being defined by external things such as material possessions or other people’s opinions. Namaste.

Thankyou for your words.