first-impressions

Your healthy self-esteem is one of the most significant and powerful drivers in your life. It drives your perceptions, attitudes, opinions, relationships, communications, and your decisions.

Popularity does not equal respect. It is not only kids who will do what they think they must to fit in and be popular__dults do it too.

When you have a healthy self-esteem, qualities such as likeability, confidence, trustworthiness, compassion, sense of humor, empathy, and optimism all serve to make you more interesting and successful. But unfortunately, we sometimes get in our own way . . .

Living in integrity with one__ principles that are held in high regard engenders respect__oth from others and self.

While developing a healthy self-esteem is a lifetime learning process, you can take daily steps to enjoy a confident sense of well-being beginning tody.

You can take your power back and silence the criticism and lies NOW!

Healthy self-esteem rests upon a strong foundation of core values and an inclination to act and speak in alignment with those values.

We all go through times of self-doubt, times when we may question our abilities and hope we can live up to the expectations of others.

A high self-esteem can quickly deteriorate into egotism, arrogance, and an over-confidence that can backfire and turn people off.

Become your own best friend__mile and say __ love you_ to yourself occasionally.

Your inner critic is that voice in your head that second-guesses your choices, doubts your abilities, judges your appearance, criticizes you at every turn, and tries to convince you that you are never good enough.

With an objective eye, take an inventory of your successes and enlist the honest feedback of a trusted and respected mentor or peer. Chances are they see you in a better light than you see yourself!

Finding a taxi, she felt like a child pressing her nose to the window of a candy store as she watched the changing vista pass by while the twilight descended and the capital became bathed in a translucent misty lavender glow. Entering the city from that airport was truly unique. Charles de Gaulle, built nineteen miles north of the bustling metropolis, ensured that the final point of destination was veiled from the eyes of the traveller as they descended. No doubt, the officials scrupulously planned the airport__ location to prevent the incessant air traffic and roaring engines from visibly or audibly polluting the ambience of their beloved capital, and apparently, they succeeded. If one flew over during the summer months, the visitor would be visibly presented with beautifully managed quilt-like fields of alternating gold and green appearing as though they were tilled and clipped with the mathematical precision of a slide rule. The countryside was dotted with quaint villages and towns that were obviously under meticulous planning control. When the aircraft began to descend, this prevailing sense of exactitude and order made the visitor long for an aerial view of the capital city and its famous wonders, hoping they could see as many landmarks as they could before they touched ground, as was the usual case with other major international airports, but from this point of entry, one was denied a glimpse of the city below. Green fields, villages, more fields, the ground grew closer and closer, a runway appeared, a slight bump or two was felt as the craft landed, and they were surrounded by the steel and glass buildings of the airport. Slightly disappointed with this mysterious game of hide-and-seek, the voyager must continue on and collect their baggage, consoled by the reflection that they will see the metropolis as they make their way into town. For those travelling by road, the concrete motorway with its blue road signs, the underpasses and the typical traffic-logged hubbub of industrial areas were the first landmarks to greet the eye, without a doubt, it was a disheartening first impression. Then, the real introduction began. Quietly, and almost imperceptibly, the modern confusion of steel and asphalt was effaced little by little as the exquisite timelessness of Parisian heritage architecture was gradually unveiled. Popping up like mushrooms were cream sandstone edifices filigreed with curled, swirling carvings, gently sloping mansard roofs, elegant ironwork lanterns and wood doors that charmed the eye, until finally, the traveller was completely submerged in the glory of the Second Empire ala Baron Haussmann__ master plan of city design, the iconic grand mansions, tree-lined boulevards and avenues, the quaint gardens, the majestic churches with their towers and spires, the shops and cafés with their colourful awnings, all crowded and nestled together like jewels encrusted on a gold setting.

He was the kind of man you didn__ notice at first_but then found yourself staring. There was something_something she__ never been able to put her finger on_that inspired a double, triple, quadruple look. He was forever lurking in corners with a cigarette, and seemed to draw her eyes anyway. She didn__ know if she liked him, wasn__ sure if she trusted him, and definitely was afraid _ a little bit _ of his eyes.

Forgetting who you are is so much more complicated than simply forgetting your name. It's also forgetting your dreams. Your aspirations. What makes you happy. What you pray you'll never have to live without. It's meeting yourself for the first time, and not being sure of your first impression.

Have you ever been friends with a girl before?__he finally asked. __riends?___es. Friends.___ave a beer and shoot some pool friends? Or the kind with benefits?__he laughed out loud, shook her head and grinned. __ave you ever been friends with a girl without having sex mixed into the equation?___ot since I was sixteen,_ he admitted and then felt his neck heat.

People must believe that you are real and are who you say you are, otherwise they will not want to do business with you, much less make the effort to move forward in starting and building a relationship.

Do you really want people to like you for something that you__e not? It takes a lot of energy to pretend to be someone else for the sake of pleasing others.