There are at least
Two common ways
To keep a high self esteem,
And one hard way.

The first way is by the ignorance
Of low self-awareness.
That is, pay no attention
To what’s wrong with you,
And you can assume by default that
You must be a pretty good person!

The second way is by deliberately
Lying to yourself about what you see.
And there are many variations on that lie,
But mostly, they will come down
To something like this:
“It’s not my responsibility.”

And the third way to
Keep a high self esteem—
The hard way—
Is to earn it
By improving yourself
One fault at a time.

Be advised:
This will be a long ascent
With ups and downs
Along the way,
And your feelings
May frequently lie to you,
Telling you that
You’re not getting anywhere,
And that you had best simply quit.

And though it is the long way up,
It is the true way up—
And did I mention that
It is the only true way up?—
And I can promise you
That you will not be ignorant
Once you reach the top.

But if all that sounds
Like too much trouble,
You could simply pretend
That one of the other ways
Is sure to work.
And you can devote
The remaining years of your life
To that end.