Self-esteem and personal sovereignty: taking back control of your life

There comes a time in life when you feel that something is wrong.
Not necessarily in a dramatic way. More like a dull fatigue. A feeling that you no longer quite belong in your own life.

You do what you have to do. You adapt. You compromise.
And yet, inside, something is settling.

That moment is often a call.
A call to return to yourself.
A call to reclaim your sovereignty.

Self-esteem, that fragile connection with oneself

Self-esteem is not about feeling strong or confident all the time.
It's how we talk to ourselves when we doubt ourselves.
It's how we treat ourselves when we make mistakes.
It's what we believe, deep down, that we deserve.

When self-esteem is fragile, we look outside ourselves for what we don't allow ourselves inside. We wait for someone to confirm that we are valuable, that we are legitimate, that we are doing ‘well’.

So we adjust. We swallow what bothers us. We accept too much.
Not out of weakness, but out of fear of losing the connection.

When we forget ourselves in order to be loved

Little by little, without even realising it, we learn to take a back seat.
We say yes when we mean no.
We minimise our feelings.
We convince ourselves that it's ‘not that serious’.

But by constantly forgetting ourselves, something cracks.
A distance develops between what we experience and what we really feel.

It's not a conscious betrayal.
It's often an old strategy, learned very early on: to be loved, you have to adapt.

Gently reclaiming your sovereignty

Reclaiming your sovereignty is not a brutal act.
It does not mean cutting ties or hardening your heart.

It means starting to listen to yourself again.
It means recognising the areas where you are forcing yourself.
It means accepting discomfort rather than continuing to remain silent.

It can be as simple as:

• saying no more often than before,
• expressing a need without apologising,
• allowing yourself to disagree,
• choosing what is right for you, even if it is not understood.

Every little choice counts.

Self-esteem as an anchor point

The more we respect ourselves, the stronger our self-esteem becomes.
And the stronger it becomes, the more natural it is to set boundaries.

Self-esteem does not cut us off from others.
It allows for more genuine, more balanced relationships.
It frees us from the obligation to please in order to exist.

We then begin to act not to be validated, but to be aligned.

A journey, not a destination

Regaining sovereignty is a journey.
There will be hesitations. Setbacks. Moments of doubt.

But every time we choose to respect ourselves, even discreetly, something inside us readjusts.

We don't become someone else.
We simply return to ourselves.

And sometimes, that's enough to transform a whole life.