Self-Esteem and Teens - Family Issues 05-22-06

Motivational Articles

Free Newsletters

Weekly Motivational Newsletter

Monthly Astrology Newsletter

One-on-One Help

Life Coach

Personalized Horoscopes

Astrology Profiles

Compatibility Reports

Personalized 1-Year Overview

Self-Help Books

Love’s Dance

Why Do I Keep Falling in Love With the Wrong People?

When All Else Fails, Find Your Heart’s Song and Sing Louder!

Beyond the Inner Critic

Voices: Divinity or Insanity?

October 2008 Astrology

Aries Monthly Horoscope

Taurus Monthly Horoscope

Gemini Monthly Horoscope

Cancer Monthly Horoscope

Leo Monthly Horoscope

Virgo Monthly Horoscope

Libra Monthly Horoscope

Scorpio Monthly Horoscope

Sagittarius Monthly Horoscope

Capricorn Monthly Horoscope

Aquarius Monthly Horoscope

Pisces Monthly Horoscope

Clothing & Gift Items

Tomorrow’s Edge Gift Shoppe

Motivational Quotes, Funny, Inspirational, and Rebellious Thoughts

Skye Thomas

Flying Tethered

MySpace.com/SkyeThomas

Facebook Profile

Annual Healing in the Redwoods

Tomorrow’s Edge

Navigation Page

Troubleshooting Email Issues and Contact Information

Article Usage, Copyrights, and Syndicated Article Feed

Web Content Designed to Build Loyal Repeat Traffic

they are good or evil?

What if I’m crazy?

Voices

Divinity or Insanity?

answers these questions

and more

40 of Skye Thomas’ most popular articles have been brought together to create this magical book. Give it as a gift to someone going through a rough time to show them

your love and support. Give

it to your teenagers as a series of life lessons to help them get through the difficulties of becoming adults. Give it to yourself as a reminder that

you have what it takes to

get through the dramas that

life throws your way.

When All Else Fails,

Find Your Heart’s Song and Sing Louder!

is one of those pick-me-ups

that you can rely on to always be there like a good friend ready to cheer you up on a cloudy day.

who I am on the inside?

Who is naturally loyal

and faithful?

Why Do I Keep Falling

in Love With the

Wrong People?

answers these questions

and more

How can I stop the

negative self-talk from ruining my life?

How can I conquer my negativity and become a naturally positive person?

Why am I so fearful

of trying new things?

How can I improve

my self-esteem?

Beyond the Inner Critic

answers these questions

and more

Halloween Goodies in our Tomorrow’s Edge

Gift Shoppe

Long Live the American Dream! We help you to re-commit yourself to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”

May 22nd, 2006

Family Issues

Good Morning,

Teenagers are really something – all that passion and energy without any idea just how innocent and naïve they are. Mine are getting excited for summer break and are forcing me to look at how soon they’ll both be leaving the nest. I’m not ready, not even a little bit.

take care,

Skye Thomas

Tomorrow's Edge

...inspiring leaps of faith

www.TomorrowsEdge.net

Long Live the American Dream!

Quote of the Week:

"Nothing great has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstances." -- Bruce Barton, advertising executive

“Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.” -- Ambrose Bierce

Also Added to the Website this Week:

June 2006 Monthly Astrology Forecasts

The new June 2006 forecasts are being sent out to the subscribers this morning. The May 2006 forecasts will be posted to the website as an example of what the horoscopes look like. You can check them out later today and see how the last ten days of this month will play out.

Feature Article of the Week:

Self-Esteem and Teens

Ideally, we raise our children from the cradle to have a positive sense of self-esteem. A child that has always had a strong sense of who they are and were they want to go with their life isn’t as likely to dabble in drugs, alcohol, and premarital sex. A child who has a safe open dialog with at least one of their parents isn’t as likely to keep secrets and start sneaking around during the teenage years. A child who has been raised to set personal boundaries isn’t as likely to let peer pressure dictate their standards of conduct. Children who have been raised to recognize their own gifts and limitations are able to make their own choices about what is in their long-term best interest. But most teens weren’t raised perfectly and they know it, so along with the lack of self-confidence they are often carrying at least a little bit of animosity towards the authority figures that have failed them.

Teens have a double-edged sword in their hands. On the one side, they have none of the adult wisdom that comes from making their own choices and seeing for themselves what does and does not work for them. On the other side, they have serious hormone levels which by design gives them the feeling of strength and immortality. You see it in boys especially. There’s nothing quite like a heavy dose of testosterone to give a previously insecure boy the belief that he can tackle the opposing football team or even ask the most popular girl out on a date. Hormones foster a temporary manic form of self-esteem in teens that often gets them into more trouble then good.

They think their new can-do attitude is enough to get them through life, but the truth is, those hormone levels eventually mellow out and their original lack of self-esteem will come back. Often you’ll see young adults in their early to mid-twenties undergoing a depression as the reality of their limited belief systems drift back into their awareness. It’s like the tide just came back in. From this place, a lot of folks decide that nothing they do ever really matters and they resign themselves to a dull uneventful life. They put their dreams up on a shelf and most never bother to try again. Remember back in your own life, when did you give up on your dreams?

We need to educate our teens in advance that the superman complex will wear off and that they will go back to being normal people again. That doesn’t make them failures, it just makes them human. It should be taught in the health curriculum along with defining the upcoming body changes, that when all of that stabilizes, they will no longer feel invincible. That would help them to not go through a withdrawal type depression later in life. “When I was young, I always dreamed of being a _____ when I grew up. Now I’m just answering phones on this customer service hotline being yelled at everyday by irate customers. This is definitely not what I had in mind when I pictured ‘happily ever after’.”

Yes, we should teach them self-esteem from the time they are born. Yes, we should teach them how to create a balance between self-obsession and caring about others’ needs. And yes, we should teach them that there is a time and a place for immediate gratification and a time and a place for delayed gratification. But what is often missed is the basic core belief that they are capable of doing anything they set their minds to. Teens should be taught that it takes hard work and determination to make the big important dreams come true. It’s fun to dream of becoming an overnight success as a rock star or as an athlete, but that behind the scenes their heroes did work hard to master their craft and to become noticed by people who had the ability to promote them. Teach them that luck is something that rarely finds you, you often have to go looking for it. We have to teach our teens the nuts and bolts of how to make their dreams come true.

We have to talk to them and find out what their goals are. Then we have to help them plot a course that is exciting and adventurous. Help them understand that they can accomplish a lot towards fulfilling those goals now, but that there will come a day when nature dictates they will slow down and the fire in their belly will become a quiet ember. They need to be forewarned so they will stay focused now and can get a lot of the hard work done before hand. That’s why they need to go to college as soon as possible, or train as apprentices now, or practice their craft until they can perform inside out and upside down in their sleep. They have to work hard while they have the youthful drive to do so. Encourage them to run with their dreams in a positive logical direction that will actually get them where they want to go. Show them how to look backwards over their shoulder once in a while to see just how far they have come and that they may not be at their ultimate finishing point, but they’ve made wonderful progress so far.

Don’t let them tell you that they don’t have any goals and that there is nothing they are good at anyway. Somewhere in their grumpy little hearts is a dream, make them find it. Self-esteem doesn’t come from someone else telling us that we are capable. Self-esteem comes from fighting, scratching and digging our way towards something. It’s that little voice somewhere in the back of our minds whispering, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…” and that doesn’t come from Mommy and Daddy. That comes from pushing ourselves beyond our easy comfort zones.

Tomorrow's Edge

...inspiring leaps of faith

www.TomorrowsEdge.net

Long Live the American Dream!

Skye Thomas is the CEO of Tomorrow’s Edge, an Internet leader in inspiring leaps of faith. She became a writer in 1999 after twenty years of studying personal growth, motivation, soulmates, self-esteem, parenting, spirituality, metaphysics, family dynamics, dating, and astrology. Her books, articles, and astrological forecasts have inspired people of all ages and faiths to recommit themselves to the pursuit of happiness. To read more of her articles, previews of her books, and her astrology forecasts, go to www.TomorrowsEdge.net. To read more about Skye and to sign up to receive her free weekly newsletter, go to www.SkyeThomas.com.

If someone forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like to be included on a regular basis, send us an email to Family@TomorrowsEdge.net. We'll be happy to add you to the list.

To unsubscribe from this newsletter, send a blank email to RemoveFamily@TomorrowsEdge.net. We'll make sure you're promptly removed without any hassles. This may sound obvious, but send it from the same email address that we send this to or the automated system will think you are opting a new address into the system instead of removing an old one.

To change email addresses, opt out of the old address by sending an email to RemoveFamily@TomorrowsEdge.net and then opt in with the new address by sending an email to Family@TomorrowsEdge.net.