There are many interpretations of “respect yourself.” Many people believe it comes down to how well you fit with society’s social roles.
I’m here to say it has nothing to do with the approval of others, or your reputation. Stop letting others decide your own level of self-respect. Stop letting “they have no respect for themselves” be a normal phrase in society.
Self-respect is your own depiction of yourself, the underlying truth that only you can decide. It’s sticking to your own morals and beliefs instead of playing the yes-man, and only striving to please others. When you start doing things strictly for others is one way you ultimately start to lose yourself, and in return, your self-respect.
You can lay awake at night watching your failures play over and over in your head and slowly lose your self-respect, or you can dig deep into your soul; find your strengths, better your weaknesses, carry yourself in a way with good character and build your self-respect from the inside out.
Your happiness relies so much on the respect you have for yourself. It’s about having pride and carrying yourself like so.
The key factor of having respect for yourself is being happy with yourself.
Self-respect should come from within and with your own idea of yourself, not what the roles of society set for you or the picture others draw of you.
In a Vogue article by the very Joan Didion, she wrote: “To assign unanswered letters their proper weight, to free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves – there lies the great, singular power of self-respect. Without it, once eventually discovers the final turn of the screw: one runs away to find oneself, and finds no one at home.”
HCXO,
Becca