What is the best way to love yourself and raise your self esteem?

First off, what kind of self-esteem do you mean and in which situations do you feel uncomfortable? If you can answer those questions you have the root of your problems. And some general tips: Wear something nice, even at home, just dress up in your best clothes. Get yourself something nice, set yourself little goals of confidence like "today I have to ...." and if you get that done, buy yourself something nice or relax a little. Or maybe go to a professional photographer and have a fotoset directed and taken, maybe he'll get you from a different angle and you might find something about you you haven't seen yet. Aaaand involve your husband, talk to him, try to work out how he can make you feel comfortable too.

It ranges from a bunch of issues. 1) Appearance. I just had a kidney transplant because I spent 4 years on Dialysis. I contracted several infections and rashes and my skin has changed because of it. I have gained a little weight and I also have lost some of my hair. We tend to hang out with some younger better looking people and over the last few years it has really made me think about my appearance. When I was young, I used to go shopping, I used to get my nails done, get my hair done frequently. But it just got to a point were I just stopped caring about it, part of it was because of financial reasons, but mainly because I just stopped caring, because I felt that I was no longer attractive enough for my husband. If I get anything new, mainly it's been hand me downs from my mom so really because it is not even my style, if I didn't have to buy it, it was just easier. I don't take a lot of pictures with myself because I had bells palsy when I was younger and never recovered fully from the facial paralysis so I don't have a real smile. I also have issues with it because I don't have enough confidence with myself to ever defend myself or stand up for myself and I always am living in fear of rejection or that I'm going to lose my family. Because of that fear, I was never completely honest with my husband about our finances and I always tried to resolve problems without him, which at times put us more in debt that where we should have been. I want to be able to feel good about myself and be a better wife and mother to my family. I don't want to walk on eggshells always worried about not giving the complete truth about our financial situation and be in fear of being reactive instead of proactive.

Hi. I'm young but my mother has been in situation similar to yours. I would suggest trying out therapy. Their amazing people and will dig in to your past and present to help solve your mental and emotional problems. After a while, invite your husband to some of your sessions. He will be your best support and it will definitely bring you guys closer. If therapy isn't your thing, talk to him. Let him become your therapist. As far as your low self esteem, get a mini makeover. Find something that to wear that you feel that a person with high self esteem would wear. Go out on a date and get out of your comfort zone. Your husband will probably be so happy and surprise! Enjoy yourself as much as possible. Please give updates

I have been to about 10 therapists, none of them have been able to help me figure out what my issues are. My husband has tried and I do talk to him about a lot of things and we have worked out or identified some of my issues together but he is growing tired of the fact that I'm not changing. I just keep falling back into my depression and self esteem. A lot of it seems to be situational. If our financial problems creep up, it increases my depression, it incites panic in me because things are not going as they should and if I have made a mistake, I am afraid to tell him, I end up keeping bad news from him by lying and then I try to fix the problem myself, so I am a ball of stress and it does not help me feel better about myself. I work a lot, (right now I'm the only one working) so we don't get a lot of time, we only have the weekends but that is also time for us to be with the kids. I just dress with what is necessary and don't spend a lot of time getting ready. There was a time when I was young that I did love shopping, I loved dressing up but I have just learned to conform. I don't know what it's like to feel special anymore, I don't know how to feel pretty. There is no real relationship time, if we would go on a date, it would be because I have to organize it, get the kids to grandma's plan the date and basically "be the man" in the relationship and that really sucks.