1. Youth Modules – Self
LOVE OF SELF
GETTING INTO THE TOPIC:
In describing myself to a cousin I have never met, I would rate myself on a special scale
of 1 through 5. (Check one)
Good looking 1 2 3 4 5
Pleasant personality 1 2 3 4 5
Serious student 1 2 3 4 5
Good athlete 1 2 3 4 5
Helpful around the house 1 2 3 4 5
Good brother or sister 1 2 3 4 5
My most serious faults (Check one)
I spend too much time on college work
I spend too little time on college work
Anything else
I like to tell my friends how nice they look Yes No
I often criticize my friends Yes No
The following are my most outstanding assets.
ASK YOURSELF:
1. What kind of person am I really?
2. How do I react when someone tells me I’m a good person at something?
3. What do I say when someone tells me I’m a good person?
4. What kind of daughter am I?
5. What kind of a friend am I?
6. Do I frequently put myself down?
7. Do I choose my friends because they are better, nicer, more attractive, than I am?
8. Do I choose my friends on those who are not as nice, attractive, or as smart as I
am?
Don Bosco Development Society, Provincial House, Mumbai

2. Youth Modules – Self
9. What do I consider the most important attribute in a husband or wife?
POINTS TO EXPLORE AND DISCUSS:
Take a few moments and write out your answers to these questions. Then share them
with a person who is really the best friend you have.
But first be ruthless with yourself. Take away from yourself everything that’s important
to you. take away your family, your friends, your neighbourhood, your school, your
boyfriend or girlfriend, and just stand there in your own mind and heart.
What have you got? This is not a trick question. Just who do you think you are? Is
your answer going to be “just me”? Explain.
Describe yourself as well as you can. Put down what you see yourself to be.
TIPS FOR DEEPENING LOVE OF SELF:
Κ A low opinion of myself is a big obstacle in getting to know someone else. It causes
me to be afraid that I will reveal how worthless I am not only to another but to myself
as well. Low self esteem makes me focus in on myself a lot.
Κ A person who feels worthless is constantly on the defensive. He or she has to prove
his or her own self-worth. We often do this by working hard to achieve, or pretending
we are someone we really aren’t.
Κ People with a low opinion of themselves try to compensate by “over achieving, by
gathering material things or by moving up in the world. But even if they succeed in
doing so, they still do not feel they are worth much.
Κ If we say we are “just average”, it may mean we do not think very highly of ourselves.
Κ The experiences of being loved makes us feel worthy.
Κ When we criticize someone, they love themselves less and we love ourselves less.
Criticizing others can cause our self image to plunge even further down.
Κ We should be able to accept praise in return.
Κ The most secure I feel about myself, the less I worry about myself and the more free
time to think of others.
Κ Love expressed in praise actually creates love.
Don Bosco Development Society, Provincial House, Mumbai