Attitude and self-esteem should never, ever, be based on your circumstances. It should be vice versa. I'm pretty sure that's called enlightenment or something, so chances are none of us will ever make it to the far side of the spectrum. But perspective checks are constantly necessary in life. I find it very easy to feel good or bad based on what's happening in my life. The thing I discovered is that "what's happening in my life" is constantly changing whether I like or want the changes, so letting my attitude and self-esteem correlate with these events doesn't do a damn thing besides stress me out. The other disadvantage to all of this is that people don't like your more or less based on your circumstances; rather they either sympathetic or envious. Which are fine emotions, but they're not friendship-building emotions. Your attitude and confidence will bring in a lot more good things from the outside than great hair or a respectable job.

I think Lao Tzu said it better than me, "Rejoice in the way things are."

This is me, for better or for worse!