I am not here to receive pity; however, I am here to be open about my life and

things I have been through. These experiences have made it very important for me to be

constantly self-aware and reflecting on where I am at as well as reflecting on my own

emotions or feelings.

I lost 4 family members when I was 14, and since then have been very

obsessed/scared of death. This triggered a lot of different thoughts, patterns in behavior

including a year where I was extremely depressed and questioning everything around

me, feeling bad for myself on a daily basis. I also have experienced some severe anxiety

over the last couple of years that has made me a lot more sensitive and a lot more self-

aware of my own needs for my mental health. I felt a lot of self-doubt, self-hate and

disgust daily that it became overwhelming, but eventually I came out on the other side

and it showed me the way I need to destress when things start to spiral out of control.

Over the past few years it has become extremely important for me to eliminate

negative people from my life and make sure I make the people I value feel loved and

appreciated. I have learned these values through the concept of reflected appraisal,

because it was the people, I still have in my life that reminded me that I am a good man.

They reminded me of these things I forget sometimes and show me that I am a loving.

These important friends, family and loved ones have made me feel valuable and

important and have helped me shape my values, morals, as well as dig myself out of

some dark spots and get myself back on the right track.

My self-esteem and self-concept have a huge barring on my interpersonal

relationships. I say this because if I do not feel like myself, my friends and family take

notice and I cannot communicate as well because I am not clear or thinking straight if I

am anxious or feeling low about myself. I think a lot of people experience these same

things and situations like I am describing. A lot of times I will be so overwhelmed with

emotion I don’t feel like talking to anyone which is not like me at all. This effects my

personal relationships because I then need to lean on my friends for advice or to get me

back to level ground. This is nothing to be ashamed of however, as we all need this on a

daily basis; people to be there all the time when you are proud of something and when

you are not feeling good about yourself.

The positive side of my self-concept is that I have become very aware of my

inner feelings and emotions and have developed healthy ways to deal with it that do not

affect my relationships. I use exercise and therapy to express myself and the thoughtful,

caring man I have developed into allows me to really connect with people I have

relationships with and be more open to talk about things I may not have been able to

before. I also feel more heavily armed to be able to give people good advice and be

there for my people when they need me.