Inspiring Self Esteem Stories

These inspiring self esteem stories were taken from the book Chicken Soup for the Soul. As you read them let them inspire to see the beauty and greatness within you.

The Golden Buddha Story

In 1957 a group of monks from a monastery had to relocate a clay Buddha from their temple to a new location. The monastery had to be relocated to make room for the development of a new highway through Bangkok.

When the Crane began to lift the clay Buddha, the weight of it was so heavy that it began to crack, to make things worse it also began to rain.

The head monk who was concerned about the damage to the Buddha decided to lower the statue back down to the ground and cover it with a large canvas to protect it from the rain. Later that evening the head monk went back to check on the Buddha.

He shined a flashlight under the canvas to see if the Buddha was staying dry. As the light reached where the statue had cracked he noticed a gleam shinning back. He decided to take a closer look at this gleam of light and wondered whether there was anything underneath the clay.

He got a chisel and hammer and began chipping away at the clay. As he knocked off the clay, the gleam grew brighter and bigger. After chipping away for many hours the monk finally stood before an extraordinary solid gold Buddha.

It turns out that several hundred years before, the golden Buddha had been covered in clay by monks to keep their precious treasure from being looted by the Burmese when they attacked Thailand. Although the Burmese killed the Monks in Thailand, the secret of the golden Buddha remained intact until it was rediscovered in 1957.

Like that Golden Buddha many of us have allowed the gold within us to be covered by the clay of fear and other factors that don't allow us to shine and keep the beauty within us trapped.

Somewhere along the way between the ages of two and nine, we begin to cover up our golden essence and develop low self esteem because of the things we experience and because of the things that are said to us and the negative meanings we associate with our experiences that cause us to undervalue ourselves.

Like the Monk we must grab our chisel and hammer and chip away the clay of low self esteem so that we can discover our true essence again.

Covering the Bases

Another of great self esteem stories in the Chicken Soup for the Soul book is about a little boy who was overheard talking to himself as he was playing baseball in the garden.

"I'm the greatest baseball player in the world" he said proudly. Then he tossed the ball in the air, swung and missed.

Undaunted, he picked up the ball, threw it into the air and said to himself "I'm the greatest player ever!" He swung at the ball again and again he missed.

He paused to examine the bat and the ball carefully. Then once again he threw the ball in to air and said "I'm the greatest basball player who ever lived" He swung the bat hard and again he missed the ball.

"Wow!" he exclaimed, "What a pitcher"

Moral of the story, don't beat up yourself over the things that aren't going right, look on the brighter side and look for your strengths. Find the positives in every situation, don't allow your self esteem or confidence to be damaged by failures.

These are just a couple of the great self esteem stories in the book Chicken soup for the soul. The book is packed with many more inspiring stories that will inspire you to love and believe in yourself so that you can fulfil your potential and live your dreams.

You can get a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul here if you are interested.