I asked what self-worth is. It is not one running score. There are three layers. The first is a passing emotional state. My wife gives me a warm look — up. Criticism — down. Highly volatile. The second is ego. It wants to protect the image of the self. Worth starts depending on whether someone wants me, whether I am right, whether I am winning. An unstable system — because the world keeps changing the score. The third goes deeper. The foundation. Worth does not come from success or failure, but from the bare fact of existing. I can fail, I can
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