Post on 03-Dec-2015
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Self-respect
Have you ever heard the common saying, “You have to give respect to get it?”
It’s true, but not necessarily in the way you might think. While it IS important to
respect others, it’s not the number one way to ensure that they respect you.
When it comes to respect, it starts at home – with you.
If you don’t respect yourself, nobody else will either.
Why self-respect is important
Self-respect is the foundation for leading a life of integrity and honor. If you do
not truly love yourself and respect yourself as a person, how will you find the
courage to stand up for your own beliefs or have the backbone to enforce
healthy boundaries?
The predators in life have a sixth sense for those who lack a healthy sense of
self-respect and do everything in their power to exploit such weaknesses.
Even “nice” people have a difficult time feeling sympathy for those that they
perceive as lacking in self-respect.
How to respect yourself
Self-respect can be summed up by saying that it’s an acknowledgment of your
inherent dignity and worth. Please note that it’s not tied to any particular
achievement or ability: every person on this planet is born worthy of respect.
In practice, this respect is not always given, but it’s important for you to know
that self-respect is not necessarily predicated on meeting certain ideals.
If you find that you’re lacking a healthy sense of self-respect, there are ways
that you can build it up:
Set healthy boundaries. Don’t let yourself be taken advantage of or base
your sense of self-worth on how others feel about you.
Take good care of yourself. Eat a healthy diet, exercise, and use alcohol
and other drugs in moderation.
Self-respect is a fundamental for a great life. If we lack self-respect we will be
insecure and strive to be someone we are not. To develop self-respect means
to cultivate the self confidence to deal with whatever life throws at us. The
following are some ways we can improve our self-respect. Remember, self-
respect comes from an inner belief and not an egoistic feeling of superiority.
1. Be True to Yourself
There is great social pressure from parents, work and society to become a
certain person and to achieve certain things. It is a pressure hard to detach
from. But, a real self-respect only comes from being true to our inner calling. It
is important you have faith in your own values and remember what is
important to you. Just because other people think you should behave in a
certain way, doesn’t mean they are right. Everyone needs to follow their own
path. Even if others don’t respect your decision it is important that you do. Just
ask yourself whether you come into the world to please Tom, Dick and Harry
or live your own life?
2. Learn to Handle Criticism
We are sensitive beings. Nobody likes criticism and when we are criticized,
either directly or indirectly, we feel bad about ourself – even if the criticism is
not justified. To maintain a sense of self respect, we need to learn how to deal
with criticism. Don’t take criticism personally. Look at it from a detached
perspective. Maybe it is false, in which case we should ignore it. If their is
some truth, we can use it to develop our character. However, it is important
not to take criticism too personally. Just because we are not very good at a
particular task, doesn’t mean we need to lose our self respect.
4. Avoid Jealousy
Jealousy of other people’s success is a common way of losing our happiness
and self respect. Jealousy is simply envy of other people’s success. We feel
miserable that we cannot enjoy their success. Sometimes it can even lead us
to knocking the other person. If we follow this path of jealousy we will
definitely lose our sense of self respect. When we are constantly comparing
ourselves to others, we are saying our self respect depends on being better
than others. But, the truth is, there will always be some people more
successful than ourself. The trick to lasting self respect is to be happy through
others success. We should never feel that other people’s success in any way
diminishes our self worth.