Two questions for you.

[Steveon]

I'm curious, readers of BG forums.

I have been asking friends and co-workers as of late their responses to three questions. Here and there I would add a why and they mostly couldn't answer. I guess it is to be expected because these questions can open up a closed wound or two. Either way, I am interested to know the answers of a similar but varying group of people from around the world.

1) How would you rate your self-esteem? Do you look highly upon yourself and low upon others (cocky), are you content with where you are and what you are doing in life (high to mid), or do you find yourself constantly looking at the floor, avoiding crowds, etc? Why?

2) How do you rate your income? Do you feel like you're rich, well off, just making it, or poor? Take into account, I do not want you to compare yourself with the United States' notion of what's poor or rich. You could be making 30 k a year, live in a low cost of living area, and still be well off but "poor" in the eyes of others. So in your opinion, where do you stand?

[Intense]

1. Id call myself High-to-Mid. There are somethings I can be pretty cocky about, but generally Im pretty content with the direction my life is going. Its taken a lot and Im positive Im not finished yet, but I honestly like the person I have become and really look forward to the future.

2. Id call myself poor still, as least compared to what I think Im capable of doing/making. There isnt a whole lot that "bothers" me, and this isnt one of those, because I know I have a whole lot of life to live yet and plenty of opportunites to make money. Mainly though, I dont focus on money much, which could be because I have money put away for an emergency and the fact that my family has a lot of it, and I know I can count on them should anything happen.

[Tricen]

1) Low. I don't really have a self-esteem, I'll admit it. I am content with who I am though, so I guess it evens out.

2) I'm a college sophmore, I am poor as fuck

[Ehran]

1) Content, for the most part. Current Family drama will drag me down though.

2) I'm well off, but not rich. I have a stable job and money isn't a source of stress. Nothing too extravagant, but I can still spoil myself or my girlfriend from time to time.

[oxx2]

1) well ive gained about 50lbs since the inception of ffxi but other then my guy my self esteem is prolly mid-close to high really depends on the situation i suppose and how high i am at the time.

if i hit my sweet spot between sober and high then im a social butterfly but if i not high or too high then im boned but im not sure how you act in large group situations is directly due to your self esteem altho im sure it has something to do with it

2) i have a large mortgage on a large house, a wife, and one 15 month old, my income is steady and it pays the bills but other then that there's not much frivolous spending.

my wife whom breeds dogs makes money when pups sell so its not as steady as my income but since its large spurts it almost balances out to be what i make and possibly more.

all of that second income money that isnt used to support the dog breeding (food, pens, grooming, etc) is used on things like entertainment, and other types of fun stuff or just things like a new couch or tv stand or something

[Mizango]

1) On a scale of 1-10 my self-esteem is probably an 8 or a 9. I absolutely love who I am and am comfortable in my own skin. Though not through arrogance and cockyness, my parents instilled in me the belief that you are born as you are, and it is a simple as that. To be proud of who you are and just do the best with the hand you are dealt. I live that day to day and pass this along down to my daughter. Cocky? Not even a small amount. Confident? Yes. I like helping others and I like to see others succeed and follow their dreams.

I am very satisfied where I am in life considering the hand I have been dealt. I have a college degree, A wonderful home, a wife, an absolutely beautiful daughter and I have my health, hobbies and my job that affords me the small luxuries that I enjoy. I love life and now fully appreciate much more since I lost both of my parents to murder a few years ago. I try to take nothing for granted and take things day to day with little to no regrets.

2)As someone above mentioned I am by no means rich, but I do live comfortably. I make near six figures but not quite, but it is enough for my family and I to live gratifyingly. We travel a lot and thankfully my job affords me the luxury of being able to spend time with my family and my hobbies (Games, fishing, running etc) without strife or burning myself out.

A lucky man I am, in more ways than one.

[Maguspk]

1. 7 or 8, push a 9 or a 10 sometimes when I try to. Very few people are naturally confident unless they were brought up that way which is very rare because most parents aren't confident so it doesn't rub off on their children. But like the person above me said, it's got alot to do with accepting who you are, changing it if you need to feel better about yourself, and being happy with what you are and the changes you made.

I won't front though, back in like middle school I was the most fucking awkward piece of shit. I literally remember looking at the ground when I walked, I wish I could go back in time and just watch myself and listen to my thoughts. Sometime in high school I just realized wtf and became somewhat normal and over time I developed uber confidence. I think alot of it had to do with my perception of being overweight. I was chubby before I started to get taller back in middle school/early high school so that affected my self-esteem alot and I think that might have played a big part. Even further before I got chubby I was a ladies man so I like to view that intermediary period I was in as a low point in my life. Now I'm back to my childhood lady wooing days.

2. Medium income, I work at 10/hour about 20 hours a week, so it's nothing spectacular but I'm also in school so it's nice side money and I do research for publishing papers on the Software Engineering Architecture Team (SEAT) at my school so it's 2 birds with one stone.

[Jefe]

1) How would you rate your self-esteem? Do you look highly upon yourself and low upon others (cocky), are you content with where you are and what you are doing in life (high to mid), or do you find yourself constantly looking at the floor, avoiding crowds, etc? Why?

I would consider myself happy because I enjoy good health, my family is doing really well, so is my loved one. So you could say those factors affect me overall. So since I am happy, I also perform really well at school and work. So yeah.

2) How do you rate your income? Do you feel like you're rich, well off, just making it, or poor? Take into account, I do not want you to compare yourself with the United States' notion of what's poor or rich. You could be making 30 k a year, live in a low cost of living area, and still be well off but "poor" in the eyes of others. So in your opinion, where do you stand?

I am not rich by our standards, however, I do not live in absolute poverty. I possess all the basic human needs to survive i.e. food, shelter, clothes, etc. I'm conscious about the money I spend, where do I spend it; and not having certain luxuries does not affect me emotionally at all (I'm not going to die just cause I ain't got no car or cell ha!).

Dunno, I guess bieng "positive," or having an optimistic view about myself and others contributes to my overall happiness.

[pohibaba]

1) How would you rate your self-esteem? Do you look highly upon yourself and low upon others (cocky), are you content with where you are and what you are doing in life (high to mid), or do you find yourself constantly looking at the floor, avoiding crowds, etc? Why?

In general, I'm a pretty confident guy. I know I'm going to do very big things in the world and I'm extremly proud of what I've already accomplished. On the other hand, though, I can have pretty severe social anxiety issues. I have a hard time talking to anyone I don't know. Whether it be making a phone call, asking for help in a store, or just randomly talking to someone on the street.

2) How do you rate your income? Do you feel like you're rich, well off, just making it, or poor? Take into account, I do not want you to compare yourself with the United States' notion of what's poor or rich. You could be making 30 k a year, live in a low cost of living area, and still be well off but "poor" in the eyes of others. So in your opinion, where do you stand?

I do pretty well with my life. I'm only 24 so I don't expect myself to be rich, but I make more than all the rest of my friends do, and my job is easier 8)

[MisterBob]

1). I have a pretty good self-esteem. When it comes to intelligence, it's probably too high and should come down a notch or two. For looks, I'm a good height/weight ratio and in decent shape, but my looks in general are only average since I don't really spend much time on them. I'm pretty content, don't look to the floor etc.

2). I'd rate my income as pretty good. I'm currently a senior in college, and I work part-time. I also just accepted an offer for a job that pays 6 figures + some great benefits, so I'm pretty happy about that considering thats just out of college.

[Eaglestrike]

1) From 1-10, usually a 9.5, until I start thinking about myself and my future then I fall to an 8 or so, lol. I think I'm special but currently my life is nothing special so I my self-esteem is high because I know I'm smart and capable of leading a successful life, but I get depressed because I don't know what to do with my life.

2) I personally am really poor, if something of mine breaks it's going to stay broken as I can't fix it if money is necessary to do so. My mother lives paycheck to paycheck, at least in being able to splurge on food, she's fine paying the rest of her bills. I haven't had a job for 2 years and never had a job that pays more than $6.50/hour except for a temp job I got before I went to college.

[Creeps]

1) My self-esteem is at least a 9, usually more. This is mostly because I'm extremely apathetic. I just do not care about anything but my core group of 7 or 8 friends, my girlfriend, my education and my job. If someone talks shit about me, I just ignore it because I figure they're most likely useless and not worth my time. I probably come off as cocky to people who just meet me, but again, I don't care. I'm just very confident in myself and the way my life is. People like being around someone who is care-free and bold.

2) My income is enough for me right now. I'm not poor, but I'm not rich. I make enough to pay my bills (about $750/mo for insurance, car payment, rent and utilities), have plenty of food, put money in savings and have money to go out/buy games/travel a little. I make about $2000/mo at my graphic/web design job, but I work whatever schedule I want as long as it's 38+ hours a week. My boss is great, takes me out to lunch every once in awhile, get a raise about twice a year and if I have an appointment or something else scheduled, I can leave and go take care of business without giving hardly any notice. Once my AA is finished and I get my A+, N+, Security+ and MCSE certs out of the way, I'll likely upgrade my employment status and go to work for FPL or something while I finish my 4-year degree.

[Blarg]

I think that the responses will be more skewed towards the confident people in this thread. Those with below average confidence probably wont be as willing to tell everyone about it.

[Tricen]

I'll admit it, I have a very low self esteem. But it's not like I go emo over it or become a dramaqueen.

[Colm]

1. I'm fairly confident about my intelligence, but I find I have to work much harder now to maintain the same grades I did back in high school. It's been rough at some points, but I think I can get through engineering okay. I actually feel better about my intelligence now than I did back in high school, which is weird. My self-esteem isn't very high though. I'm naturally shy, which makes it hard to make friends, and I'm not confident about my looks at all. I've been working out more lately though, so hopefully I'll start feeling better about myself physically. :x

2. I'm in college, so I'm not exactly swimming in cash. But I'm well off, in the sense that I can live at home while going to school (and not worry about food, bills, heat/electricity, etc.) and if everything works out, I should have an undergraduate degree without going into debt at all.

[Steveon]

I think that the responses will be more skewed towards the confident people in this thread. Those with below average confidence probably wont be as willing to tell everyone about it.

Yeah, definitely. Just like at work and the uni, the confident ones are quick to reply but the ones with low self esteem couldn't tell me why.

[Eaglestrike]

I'll admit it, I have a very low self esteem. But it's not like I go emo over it or become a dramaqueen.

You make me laugh sometimes.

[Tricen]

I'll admit it, I have a very low self esteem. But it's not like I go emo over it or become a dramaqueen.

You make me laugh sometimes.

What D

[Eaglestrike]

I'll admit it, I have a very low self esteem. But it's not like I go emo over it or become a dramaqueen.

You make me laugh sometimes.

What D

Just testing your self-esteem and "I don't become a dramaqueen" statement. Don't call the dogs on me just yet.

[Tricen]

What are you talking about, I'm so confused ._.