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Respect
[Photo courtesy of why plus eight]I only really started to pick up on this point the other day. It’s amazing the amount you can learn from others, if only you take the time to listen.
If you don’t respect yourself then nobody else will
I’ve taken a long hard look at the situation.. the job, the people and the events.. and I wonder.. wonder why I don’t receive the respect I desire. Simply because I do not give it to myself. Surely the worst thing in existence is to value life according to wealth, social status, appearance and all other fleeting things. Since I’ve felt this way many times I know that you’ve felt this way too. Who can truly place value on a human life or on human potential? £100 000 in the bank? Owning a Bugatti Veyron? Being the sexiest woman on the planet?
You have to dig a little deeper, to a place inside.. a place of intrinsic immeasurable value (the really good stuff), where no flawed human opinion can venture. This same immeasurable value is contained within each one of us. Whether teacher, janitor, accountant, boss or vagabond. I exist and you exist because we add value to the world, it really is that simple. I don’t need to have something to add value.. because I am something. When you fully understand this concept it’s easier to manifest miracles in the world because your mind is freed from the need to please others or to fit into a rigid way of living imposed by society. Why waste energy on ever elusive acceptance, when you can respect yourself?
I see it everyday, with friends, family, strangers, colleagues, intimates and of course myself. How can you respect others if you do not respect yourself? And if you can’t respect others how can you expect them to respect you? I ask a lot of questions, I know.. but it helps me really tackle these issues in my mind instead of just writing them down and accepting them as fact. I’ve spent a lot of time here in Leeds with unexpected friends. A helping hand came from a place I never expected it to come from and that because I never afforded enough respect. There were too many structures of judgement in my mind. Structures like: ‘Oh, this person really won’t understand me because of my upbringing’ or ‘Shit, I can’t believe he did that. It’s a good thing I don’t see him that often’ or ‘She treated me like this, I hope she suffers as much as I have’.
This kind of respect rises above human judgement. Apart from the courts, judgement has no place in society! Who is worse, the person that commits a crime or the media/public who condemns him/her as if they were God themself? Every human has a right to life, a right to pursue full potential.. and that right begins with self respect and respect for others.
respecting others means honouring their beliefs even if they are different from your own and also not judging them. So to respect yourself you must also not judge yourself, blame yourself or feel guilty, but you must love yourself first.