Dating and Confidence

[Polysnow]

Definitely not right away (or maybe so!), I'm considering throwing my hat in the dating ring and seeing whats out there.

But here's the thing. My self esteem is bad. Not even going to dance around the issue. I don't have a very high self image of myself. So...curious as to how people here have over come that? I'm not a super model and I have not been...exactly kind to my body weight wise, but I do know I'm smart and have a lot to offer.

So if you took the plunge out there, how/when did you decide to do it? How did you deal with confidence/body image issues?

I've never actually tried looking for a date before. This would be a whole new ball game for me..

 

[Dagferi]

I got out and socialized. I met people sounding activities that I love.

 

[GreenAcres]

Definitely not right away (or maybe so!), I'm considering throwing my hat in the dating ring and seeing whats out there.

But here's the thing. My self esteem is bad. Not even going to dance around the issue. I don't have a very high self image of myself. So...curious as to how people here have over come that? I'm not a super model and I have not been...exactly kind to my body weight wise, but I do know I'm smart and have a lot to offer.

So if you took the plunge out there, how/when did you decide to do it? How did you deal with confidence/body image issues?

I've never actually tried looking for a date before. This would be a whole new ball game for me..

Bad self esteem can make dating rather a minefield, for many reason: predatory people look for that to take advantage of, and quality partners tend to get exhausted with it after a while. So, just acknowledging it and wanting to deal with it is an excellent first step.

There's no one way, really, to deal with body image and confidence issues--it depends a lot on the root of the problem. Someone with self-esteem originating from childhood abuse, for example, is going to need to deal with it much differently than someone who has low self-esteem because they internalize pop culture standards of photo-shopped beauty. Both of those will have different things to work on than someone who had children and now feels very different and uncomfortable in their post-baby body. A therapist may be able to help you figure out the causes of your low self-esteem and give you strategies for changing your outlook.