“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.” — Lao Tzu

Respect is a funny thing. Some people think everyone deserves it. Some think it’s something you earn through hard work and dedication to yourself and others. Others still think it’s a combination of the two.

What I know to be true is that respect is something that begins within one’s self. Others cannot respect you until you respect yourself. In this, I mean it’s important to take care of your mind, spirit, and body. Keep your mind sharp by learning new things. Touch bases with your spirit by journaling and meditating. Make your body strong by properly fueling it and exercising it regularly. In doing this, we show others how we treat ourselves — teaching them how to treat us.

That being said, it’s important to keep yourself from comparing yourself to others. Doing so results in self doubt, lack of confidence, loss of determination, unhappiness, stress, depression, anxiety… you name it. Comparing yourself to others is the best thing you can do to ruin your own life. The reason for this is similar to the reason that it’s important to stay in the moment — constantly comparing right now to the past or future results in absence for the present, which you later wish you had paid attention to. Then of course you end up worrying again, which restarts the cycle… it’s a whole disaster that fuels itself.

In order to stop yourself from jealousy towards others, we need to focus on our own strengths and qualities. Cherish them, and remember that nobody else has quite the same strengths we do. That being said, account for your weaknesses too. They help to give us meaning, and a goal. 

Once you achieve self respect and stop comparing yourself to other people, everything in your life will change for the better.

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What do you do to remind yourself of your strengths? How do you respect yourself? I’d love to hear what you think in the comment section. I would also greatly appreciate if you left a like, shared this post with your friends, and followed. It’s absolutely free, and you can always change your mind later if you decide to do so. Also, stay tuned for future blog posts every Monday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, and try to be the reason someone smiles today 🙂