by Xavier Grey

Created on: July 11, 2008

Each individual can likely find aspects of themselves that conjure feelings of inadequacy to some extent. This can range from a total lack of confidence to a marginal need for improvement, depending upon the underlying expectations of the person in question. Self esteem is commonly accredited with an ability to sway human behavior to extremes, though many of us seem to land in the middle of the spectrum somewhere.

Self realization is very important in terms of understanding one's place in the grand scheme of things, and any situation in which a person excells, or fails respectively has an effect, at least under the surface, and can also ripple outward from the individual's center, into the pool of humanity at large.

It is rather unfortunate that the pressures of daily life often put a person in a position to feel a need to be perceived as successful, even in areas that hold little in the way of genuine interest for a particular individual. The ties between who we are, and the things we sometimes do, are of apparent significance. For instance, a businessman might feel a need to be proficient at playing golf because of a belief that the networking capacity of the sport will be undermined if the individual's performance is sub par. This is not altogether untrue, the expectations of others in regard to our ability to perform often effect their interractions with us, the pressure is not only implied, at times it is obvious. It might not matter that a person is perfectly capable of handling the business aspects of the relationship with a level of expertise that would surpass even the greatest of golfer's ability, it is an unfortunate reality, but for many it is a reality all the same.

Falling short of the expectations of others is just one area that effects one's view of one's self, but is by no means the most debilitating. Any time a person finds inadequacies within that leave them wanting in regard to their expectations of themselves can be of far more detriment. A person can remove themselves from a situation where the pressure from others is more than they can take, but it is far more difficult to be distanced from a situation that resonates internally. Of the two, self-perception is far more important, reaching that place that prevents a person from living with themselves has far reaching implications, much more so than any outside influence can impose, though the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

I feel it is extremely important to understand that each

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