“The problem is that kind of thinking means you’re going to punish yourself forever. You think you don’t deserve happiness or love or acceptance, so you make decisions to reinforce those beliefs. You stay in unsatisfying relationships because you don’t feel you deserve better. You don’t ask for what you want because you don’t think you have the right to ask for anything. You just stay unhappy and self-pitying, and then you punish yourself some more, and again, and again, and again. So until we teach you to value yourself, we can’t teach you how to make sure other people value you.”
Book:No Hard Feelings