We all know what it is to feel respect for other people, but do we know how to respect ourselves? Do we really know what it is to respect our own choices? I hope and pray most of us do.I didn't always respect ME. I had to grow and learn. I had to take a few falls. One day I realized that I'm not nearly as bad as I thought I was! No, I was a good person in spite of myself. I did have redeeming qualities after all.
Sometimes we do things we are not proud of. It can happen in the heat of the argument or in a weak moment of instant pleasure. I strive to do the right thing and when I don't I strive to correct it. It isn't always easy to admit when we are wrong, but in the end it is the right thing to do and can clear our conscience and hearts. We should make up for our mistakes if we ever want to truly respect ourselves. We need to correct our wrongs and put our egos aside. I have learned to do that. I sometimes stumble and I sometimes fall even now, but I recognize my faults, as many as I have. They make me human. Being human is not a bad thing, it just is.
To learn to respect myself I had to go through the usual growing up and making mistakes and falls through my past. It's those mistakes that taught me.Without taking a tumble and bruising our egos from time to time, we can't learn. Learning is a process of trial and error. Good and bad. Success and failure. It's the failures that make us think. It'being pushed off our self made pedestals that make us feel human and fallible. We all need to got through it. There is no short cut.
After a few good falls I learn to adjust my thinking and what a difference it made!! I can see my faults more clearly. I can correct them and make up for them. We can never really respect ourselves unless we can look inward with an honest heart. If you can't see what's inside yourself, how can you see what is inside anyone else? It's a growing and learning process, but one that has a wonderful outcome. Looking inward we can learn to love ourselves and respect ourselves. We can know ourselves.
I have begun my journey and it has taken me to new places and new awareness. I can say now I respect myself. I try to make the right choices, but even if I fail, I know I am doing the best I can. There is nothing wrong with failure, but there is something wrong with not trying. To never try is a failure. You fail yourself. I will not fail myself most of all because how can I be there for anyone else if I cannot be there for myself?
All this has led me back to self respect, which is not conceit. It is a willingness to love yourself, be kind to yourself, and to always try to act with a conscience and regard for yourself and others. If you don't care about others, you really can't care about yourself.
I respect myself now "el7amdolillah". I respect that I try to the best of my abilities.I respect that I correct my wrongs when they are pointed out to me. I respect that I am not perfect and never will be, because no one is perfect but God "w ne3ma bellah". What I respect the most is that I am just a human being and to try to be anything other than that would be a failure. For good or bad, I am flawed and make mistakes like everyone else, but I still love and respect myself in spite of that.
