#AtoZChallenge: Weekend Reads V – L is for Low Self-Esteem, Life Sucks, and Electric Lit

Boy howdy.

The stars aligned with the big L on the forehead today, didn’t they? Today’s must-reads take on a couple of sticking points and problem areas. They’re good reads, though. I hope you get as much out of them as I did.

When I feel that self-esteem taking kidney punches on the ropes, I duck and cover and pray for the bell to end the round.

Then I see if there’s anything I can do about it. I sigh a lot in those instances. On the sideline. At work. In the car between work and the sideline. At night, when the threat of it all overwhelming me feels quite real.

But I’m still here, really, just a great grilled cheese away from taking on the world again.

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You’ve Been Conditioned Into Low Self-Esteem: Here’s How to Get It Back

Girlboss, of Success.com

Thoughts for me are tougher to control than portion sizes of animal cookies (the good Publix ones.) I can keep a Zen poker face while ruminations have a mosh pit in the back of my head. This post gives real-world tools to quiet those storms inside you.

You are the only person in the world with your experiences and perspective. You don’t have a purpose. You are your purpose, and frankly, we need you. You’ve gotta show up for you, for us. The goal is to have your head and your body in the same place at the same time—no easy feat (for now, anyway).

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Why Your Life Sucks (and how to turn it around)

By Kris, on Medium.com

Another struggle: Motivating a group of teenagers to raise a middle finger to long odds and kick ass on the soccer pitch. Kris’ tough love words make me wish it wasn’t spring break and I could have another opportunity to spur this team to a strong finish.

“Nobody is here to rescue you, Charles. Nothing outside of you matters as much as your reaction to it, and countless people have achieved more with less. Use what you have — and know that your biggest asset is your mind.” – Kris Gage

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Reading ‘Girl, Interrupted’ in the Psych Ward

Anne, of Electric Lit

(The L is for Lit.) Wow. Situational narratives like this draw me in. I want there to be a movie based solely on this post. I get it when she says spring is suicide season; it’s tough to feel defeated when the universe seems to be thawing out and blooming.

Coming into the hospital, Girl, Interrupted had felt like a friend that I was allowed to bring with me — someone I’d known for more than a decade who knew the ins and outs of life on a psychiatric ward. And yet as easy as it was to be alone with my book-friend, she spent hours patiently convincing me to get up and out of my room and talk to someone else. – Anne Theriault

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A to Z Challenge:

A is for Almost (and also At Last)

B is for Baggett (as in Laura, the actress, and #GirlsRock interview)

C is for Cursive, Cats, and Chinese Restaurants (Go Ask Daddy about them)

D is for Drawing the Line

E is for Every Day Gratitude

F is for Fieri, Falling in Love, and Focus (Weekend Reads IV)

G is for #GoAskDaddy: An interview with realtor Kristen Foxx

H is for Habit of Peace

I is for I Shot the Sheriff, Item Lifting and other Illegal Activity (Go Ask Daddy)

J is for Journalist, a #GirlsRock Interview with Esther Robards-Forbes

K is for Kickass Kindness (to go with #gratitudeandshit)

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