A few weeks ago I shared a post with you guys about the Dove Self Esteem Weekend.  I also shared with you some of the self esteem issues that I faced as a child.   Over the course of the last few weeks I have spent a lot of time not only reading the comments on my blog, but also checking out the posts completed by other bloggers and some of the things that as women, we had to deal with growing up.  Many of us are still dealing with them now!

I wanted to take the time to share another personal story with you this week.  I like most woman suffered through a lot of self esteem issues growing up.  I was never pretty enough, or skinny enough, or popular enough.  But that was nothing compared to what I had to watch my sister go through growing up.  My little sister was born with something called Craniosyntosis, or no soft spot.  She had to have several surgeries to not only create the soft spot but to also correct problems that occur from creating the soft spot, including moving her eyes closer together, and surgery to remove scar tissue from the bridge of her nose.

As you can imagine this has left her with what most would consider a less that normal face.  Of course in my eyes (and those of everyone that loved her) she was beautiful, but in the eyes of many of her peers it was just fuel for criticism.

While I don’t have any little girls in my life I have spent a lot of time thinking about what I would do if I had a daughter that had to go through any of this.  How would I talk to her?  How would I be sure to raise her to be confident in what she is and what she has in her life.  I mean there are still days that I feel unsure about my own personal self image.

Dove is working to take some of the guess work out of it for us.  As an extension of the third annual Self Esteem Weekend they have put together a “Let’s Talk Toolkit“.  When you look at a stat like over 72% of girls saying that they feel tremendous pressure to be beautiful, it becomes even more evident that we need to share with our daughters and young girls in our lives that real beauty comes from within.

While visiting Dove you can also check out the Self Esteem Wall.  You can find expert tips and real world advice to get you started on your path to the talk.  Then once you have had the talk please come back to the wall and share your experience with everyone!

Have you or someone you care about dealt with self esteem issues?  Share them with us here and how you work to over come them.