Self respect

HOW important is self respect in a person’s life? I suppose to understand self respect we need a better handle on what it actually means.

According to the dictionary, self respect means “pride and confidence in oneself, a feeling that one is behaving with honour and dignity”.

Self respect is also loving yourself and treating yourself with care. In a nutshell, it’s also the result of staying true to your core values and not willing to compromise the things you value and hold dear. Excellent examples of actions that build self respect are:

❏ Earning your success honestly without harming others or acting against our own values. Calming ourselves and speaking to someone with care even when we’re angry.

❏ Persevering to achieve a challenging goal even when we want to quit.

❏ Taking time to help a friend in need.

❏ Owning up to our mistakes and trying to make them right.

Basically, self respect is rooted in common decency.

It’s our internal navigation system providing us with a moral compass.

And having self respect is basically about the way we behave towards others and towards ourselves, especially when no one’s around and no one’s looking. Research studies show that we can find inner peace and create lasting happiness through developing self respect.

All of us, no matter who we are, make mistakes, and sometimes, say and do the wrong things. It’s just human nature and part of our human imperfections.

But it’s what we do afterwards that determines the true extent and nature of the value we hold and place on self respect. Do criminals and drug dealers have self respect? Do politicians with questionable ethics and integrity have self respect? Do people always looking for an unfair advantage have self respect?

Do corrupt government officials have self respect?

“I cannot conceive of a greater loss than the loss of one’s self respect!” Mahatma Gandhi

COLIN DEOKI

Australia