Respect your ownself

"Perhaps the most important thing we can undertake toward the reduction of fear is to make it easier for people to accept themselves, to like themselves."

To free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves--there lies the great, singular power of self-respect. Today, it's but a sad scene to notice how people resort to compromising over dignity and self esteem to take the shorter path to success. But can one really be successful, if he lacks self respect? Think of the last time you felt humiliated or treated unfairly. Did you feel like cooperating or doing better?

To build a great nation, we first need to build great citizens. One of the most important aspects in character building is self respect. It's easily confused with pride, so first of all we have to have a clear distinction between the two. Jane Haddam said, in my day, we didn't have self-esteem; we had self-respect, and no more of it than we had earned. Expecting for, or boasting of any thing more than you deserve, or showcasing your talents, that is what identifies arrogance.

Self respect gives you the necessary confidence and courage you need to have to believe in yourself. The self-respecting individual will try to be as tolerant of his neighbor's shortcomings as he is of his own. A man who doesn't trust himself cannot trust anyone else. We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit. It is the need of the hour that youth should understand the importance of and hence adopt this practice of respecting themselves. Only then can they dream of respecting each other, and respecting their nation.