“I cannot conceive of a greater loss than the loss of one’s self-respect.” Mahatma Gandhi
Self-respect is something we should all think about often. It’s of a great importance for you to notice how you see yourself, how you present it to the world, and the way you treat yourself and let others treat you.
You need to have a feeling of being proud and confident. If you don’t accept yourself if you don’t respect and love yourself with your whole heart, who will?
If you do agree, check out this list and stop doing the following 15 harmful things to yourself.
1. You don’t believe in yourself.
You pursue your dreams. You have your goals. However, you don’t believe you can achieve them. You think stars are too far from your reach. Everything sounds like an impossible mission. You don’t trust your own potential. You never believe you are good enough.
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF.
2. You let your fear lead you.
Your fear is your greatest enemy in accomplishing what you are fighting for, what you believe in. And you let it take its toll on you. You let it destroy all your hopes and wishes, your future achievements. You get stuck in its destroying charm. Simply as that.
DON’T LET YOUR FEAR LEAD YOU.
3. You constantly feel unloved.
Like the whole world is against you. It seems like nobody has time for you, nobody listens, supports, or cares about you. Nobody pays you an attention. You are surrounded by lots of negative vibes. You feel misunderstood and alone. You feel like a failure.
FEEL THE LOVE.
4. You blame yourself for everything.
You see yourself as the one who is always guilty. For everything that happens. You over-apologize. You blame yourself for things that are out of your control. You think you can control everything.
DON’T BLAME YOURSELF.
5. You hide your true emotions.
You choose to wear different masks every day. You show the world everything but your true face. You put your feelings under the carpet. You want to be accepted by the majority and feel as a part of them.
REVEAL YOUR TRUE EMOTIONS.
6. You are obsessed with your physical appearance.
You are never satisfied with what you see in the mirror. You look for perfection. You feel inferior in your attempts to make your face or body perfect. You offend yourself with bad names: “big fat swine”, “ugly”, “monster” …
ACCEPT YOURSELF. YOUR LOOK IS UNIQUE. CHERISH IT.
7. You get stuck in a toxic relationship.
It causes you a lot of pain. You are not happy. Your partner treats you badly. You know nothing will change. It leads both of you nowhere. You accept everything. And you still do nothing to get out of it.
GET YOURSELF OUT OF A BAD RELATIONSHIP.
8. You accept a job you hate.
You do something you don’t want to. It irritates you. You are stressed out, you feel pressure. You get depressed. Nevertheless, you still live in an illusion that one day you will like it and it will make you happy.
DON’T DO SOMETHING YOU DON’T LOVE.
9. You never tell your opinion.
You will rather lock yourself in a big bubble instead of sharing your opinion. You are worried that your opinion may be misunderstood or lead to a conflict. You stay silent. Even when the situation requires your opinion. Even when you need to fight for yourself.
OPEN UP ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK AND FEEL.
10. You are too ambitious.
You set some goals, you plan to achieve them. When that happens, you don’t stop; you want to achieve more than you can. You get frustrated when you realize it is not possible to make it all happen.
GET MORE REALISTIC.
11. You forget about your morals.
You let your morals blend with the morals of the majority. You follow them blindly. You forget about who you really are, what you believe in, what you stand for. You lose your unique moral identity.
STAND UP FOR YOUR PERCEPTION OF WHAT IS RIGHT AND WRONG.
12. You make others’ needs a priority. Always.
You put others on the top of the world. You always place them on a pedestal. You respect and accept them; you show them unconditional love. You forget the fact that you are a human being as well and your needs matter too.
PUT YOURSELF AS A PRIORITY NUMBER ONE.
13. You compare yourself to others.
You depend on someone else’s achievements. You feel good if they aren’t better than you, bad when they have something you don’t have. And often, they are better, prettier, more successful. You doubt your own worth.
“COMPARISON IS THE THIEF OF JOY.”
14. You are into gossiping.
You enjoy drama. You love scandals. You are playing a detective revealing people’s secrets. You tell them everything. You are busy with them. You live someone else’s life. You forget about your own.
MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS.
15. You are not who you are.
You have lost yourself, your own identity. You are not the same person anymore. You let other people treat you disrespectfully. You don’t care about respect anymore. Don’t do this to yourself. Ever.
Image: Ma_Co2013
Sandy White is a creative writer with a vivid imagination. The power of curiosity leads her to explore people’s inner world which is portrayed in her articles.