Our identity is not something we have normally chosen. Rather it has grown up in us. We may find we have identified almost completely with our role as a parent or a worker. Redundancy, retirement or an empty nest can leave us devastated. But we are more than the roles we play. A change in life is a chance for us to discover the unlived parts of who we are. New roles in life may then emerge without our losing the discovery that it is who we are rather than what we do that counts... Low self-esteem is a sickness of the soul. If we have been ignored we may believe that we do not amount to much. If we have been bullied we may feel that we do not deserve to. When we interpret the world through these lenses it is likely that we will see only what confirms our low opinion of ourselves. We need therefore to develop awareness of our patterns of thinking and feeling since with awareness comes choice. We can choose to appreciate ourselves for who we are rather than deprecate ourselves for who we..