One of my favorite new TV shows is the political drama series, Scandal, which airs on ABC on Thursday evenings. The storyline has the characters looking towards a new chapter in their lives, but the choices they have made are making it hard to leave their pasts behind. Two characters that have really caught my attention are Olivia Pope and President Fitz.
From ABC Character bio:
In the series, Olivia takes on the biggest scandals of our era, all the while trying to hide the fact that she’s one of the key players at the center of it all. This is particularly embodied by her forbidden love affair with Fitz otherwise known as Fitzgerald Grant, the President of the United States.
While some would see Olivia Pope as beautiful, smart, clever, and successful; I see her as a woman with low self-esteem, as evidenced by her poor choices. Some of these choices include being in a relationship with a married man, which (in my opinion) shows disrespect toward his wife, and women unparticular. Another demonstration of her lack of self-esteem, is her waiting around for her married boyfriend to “let her go”, as opposed to her making the healthy choice to leave. She seems powerless, and waits for someone else to make her life different.
Self-esteem comes from having the courage to make the right choices.
Olivia Pope may be a fictional character, but like her, many of us make choices, which affect our self-esteem. Every day we make choices about how we want to live, how we want to behave, how we want to feel, and how we will allow others to treat us. Not only does self-esteem play a major role in those choices, the choices we make also impact our self-esteem.
Although we make many choices over our lifetime, none can have a more profound effect on our lives than the ones we make in regards to our personal relationships. Are we in these relationships for the right reasons, and if so, what are those reasons? Have we entered into these relationships from a position of strength and confidence, or from a position of weakness and compromise?
A healthy relationship cannot exist without a healthy self-esteem. And self-esteem is all about making choices for yourself and being accountable for them. One of life’s greatest gifts comes when we realize we have the power to make our own choices, and therefore direct our lives. The idea that you can control what happens to you is liberating, yet at the same time it can be a powerfully frightening experience, because with choice comes responsibility.
So how can we avoid the pitfalls that the fictional character, Olivia Pope has fallen into? What’s a right choice and how do you know if you’re making one? Who’s affected by your life choices? If you have children, your life choices are no longer just about you. A right choice is a decision you make because your intuition tells you it’s the right option for you, regardless of what other people say, or regardless of what your Other Voice tells you. Your Other Voice is the voice that doesn’t always have your best interest at heart.
What can you do right now in this moment to move you closer to making better choices? What one action are you willing to take right now? Perhaps it’s to talk to a buddy, or go into mediation so you can listen to your inner voice. Whatever you do, it’s important that you do something. Just do it!
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