May you always think for yourself

In one of the most challenging manuevers to pull off, we must evaluate ideas on their own merits. What I mean by this is that when we come across a new idea, we must evaluate it independent of the messenger and the context surrounding our relationship with the messenger. Now, of course, an amenable relationship with the messenger might prompt us to favor them over others and to actually pay attention and listen to them. It might give them the "sold" audience, so to speak - to gain our ear. But that should be the limit to it.In this case, the question becomes: How can we think more objectively and for ourselves? How can we get better at building and maintaining that objectivity and ignoring the noise?It is my understanding that there are many elements which influence our ability to think for ourselves. For me, chief among these is our Self-Esteem.What do we mean by Self-Esteem? It all seems to come down to relationships and communication:In other words, what is the quality of the communication with ourselves, our goals and the world at large - our communities and those whom we serve and are in regular contact with?If Self-Esteem is another word for, "I know me" then what is it that we "know " about ourselves vis-a-vis the 3 above-mentioned relationships? Do we have hopeful, constructive and positively expectant attitudes toward ourselves, our goals and our communities? And if we don't, then what are we doing about it?If I may make a suggestion, any problems with poor self-esteem can usually be addressed and to some degree improved on, by starting with the first leg of the triad: Your relationship with yourself. Take the time to learn more about yourself. Who are you? What are you good at? What are your particular strengths...and weaknesses? What do you love to do? What do you gravitate towards? This may not be an easy task to do, but it is ABSOLUTELY worth all the effort, energy and time you can put into it. There is no doubt about this. The key here is Honesty - to be frank and honest with YOURSELF. Honesty may be the best policy, and self-honesty is valuable beyond measure.