How to Cope: Introduction

Hi there. My name is Amanda, and I'm better than everyone else. And no, that's not conceited to say. But I'll get to that later.

I felt the need to write this book because of the hand I've been dealt with in life. Not just by family inheritance, but by the people I've met, the places I've been, and the things I've seen and done. There has literally never been a book like this out there, and if the world that gets the honor of inhabiting the species lucky enough to include me does drastically change, there will never be another one. Sure, there are books out there that are designed to boost your self esteem, but there's nothing out there about what to do after you already love yourself. So if I don't write this book, it will never exist. And I firmly believe it needs to.

The title of this book can seem kind of deceptive. Theoretically, there can only be one person who is better than everyone else. But everything is relative. Would you ever tell a man who believes his wife is the most beautiful woman in the world that many other men claim the same thing, so only one can be right? Of course not! That would be ridiculous. And by the same token, trying to say that multiple people can't believe they're the greatest person in the world is just as absurd.

And I'm a big believer in loving yourself, but to me, that's not enough. You need to be in love with yourself. You need to look at yourself in the mirror and say, “Sweet Arceus above, that's the most attractive person I've seen all day.” You need to look at the parts of yourself you used to be insecure about, the parts of you that you thought were hideous, and say, “Well, I make it work.” You need to be able to tune out and shut down your ex when he slut shames you for sleeping with his brother. Because when you're not in love with yourself, then you could listen to the criticisms that people deal you, and you will start to hate yourself. And hating yourself is objectively bad. Because of this statement, and because we know that hate is the opposite of love, and bad is the opposite of good, we can safely conclude that loving yourself is objectively good. It's just logic. Kindergarteners can reach that conclusion. And so, factually, there is nothing wrong with loving yourself. And because being in love with yourself is a more intense, more pure version of loving yourself, being in love with yourself is more good and less bad than loving yourself, and that's a fact.

So here's my plea: if you don't love yourself, this book is not for you, at least not yet. As I said before, there are so many books out there that teach you basic self esteem skills, so if you don't already love yourself, I implore you to read one of those books first, and learn to love yourself, and once you do, please do come back, so that you can come into this with the necessary state of mind to continue. Think of reading that book as sort of a prerequisite to this one. Perhaps one day I'll write a prequel to this book in which I teach you to love yourself if you don't already. But this book I find much more urgent. So until then, please read another book.

If you already love yourself, but you don't feel as though you're in love with yourself, I want you to read this book from cover to cover, because I wrote every word of this book with you in mind. Read it twice. Three times. Four. Read it when you're eating breakfast. Read it on your way to work. Read it in the tub, if your idle hands aren't already occupied. Read it while you're listening to your little brother’s orchestra concert that your parents made you go to even though you have no interest in the “great” works of “composers” like Mozart, or Bock, or Mussolini, but they still made you go and compliment him after, like, Mother of Mew, Dad, did you really think that their song sounded good? Because it sounded like a fifth grade orchestra concert. So read it when that happens. Because I guarantee you that if you think you love yourself now, you will not be able to spend a day away from yourself after you read the words I've written and understand them. Which is great, because that's physically impossible.

Now if you already feel as though you're in love with yourself, just like I'm in love with me, I still urge you to read this. There will be parts of it that you don't need, but the great majority of the book will benefit you to read. Especially because there's a right and a wrong way to move about the world when you're in love with yourself, and I can teach you the right way.

So, with all that out of the way, you should know where you stand in terms of your self esteem, and you ought to be able to begin, so let's not waste any time.