Safeguard your self-respect

Oasis

In your dealings with people, sometimes you become the target of blame, get hurt and feel guilty. The situation may drive you to introspect and blame yourself unnecessarily. It is during such moments that you have to muster courage and guard your self-confidence and self-respect. Reflection is alright, repentance is good, apologising is majestic and determination to compensate is welcome, but losing self-esteem and self-confidence, feeling hurt and allowing your self-respect to weaken should be avoided at any cost.

Self-respect, self-esteem, and self-confidence are synonyms and they co-exist. Your self-respect is exclusively yours and no person or event should be allowed access to it, much less power over it. If you do not protect and safeguard your self-respect, nobody will.

Your self-respect and self-confidence infuses you with courage and will help you overcome crises and live with dignity and honour.

You gain self-respect by learning of your strengths and living them. You are convinced of your values and prepared to defend them fiercely when externally attacked or internally challenged. The active presence of your self-respect is externally perceptible in your conduct, respecting and forgiving others and being lovable and friendly with all. These are also attributes of courage and self-esteem.

Low self-respect is manifested when you exhibit a lack of confidence in your actions, underestimate your strengths, and undervalue your worth. Some are causes, some are also effects-- these maybe an unhappy childhood, poor academic performance, weak physique, successive catastrophes in life, and so on. They can and should be overcome because most of them are mere perceptions rather than realities.

Self-respect, as the word itself indicates, is to be gained, nourished and maintained by yourself and is not something which can be overcome extraneously. However, the following thoughts can help improve your self-respect-- everyone present on this earth is a divine creation, has a purpose, and contributes to the well-being of the world, you are not an exception. Both your strengths and weaknesses are unique to you and are required for the welfare of humanity. Who you are right now is the product of your previous thoughts and actions and as a corollary, you can increase your future value by your present thinking and actions.