Good human relations and appropriate and loving behavior stem from persons who have strong feelings of self-worth. Simply stated, persons who love and value themselves are able to love and value others and treat reality appropriately. Having a strong sense of self-worth is the way to become more fully human, to having health and happiness, gaining and maintaining satisfying relationships, and being appropriate, effective, and responsible.
When one cares for oneself, one will not do anything to injure, degrade, humiliate, or otherwise destroy oneself or another, and will not hold others responsible for one’s actions. For example, people who care for themselves would not abuse themselves through the use of drugs, alcohol, or tobacco or allow themselves to be physically or emotionally abused by others. People who care for themselves would not violate their relationships to others through violence.
Those who do not love themselves can easily become instruments of hate and destruction by unscrupulous people. They essentially give away their power, which often leads to emotional slavery. Perpetual placating exemplifies this.
The stronger one’s self-worth, the easier it is to have and maintain the courage to change one’s behavior. The more one values oneself, the less one demands from others. The less one demands from others, the more one can feel trust. The more one trusts oneself and others, the more one can love. The more one loves others, the less one fears them. The more one builds with them, the more one can know them. The more one knows another, the greater is one’s bond and bridge with them. Self-worth behavior will thus help end the isolation and alienation between persons, groups, and nations today.
“Know that although in the eternal scheme of things you are small, you are also unique and irreplaceable, as are all your fellow humans everywhere in the world.”
~ Margaret Laurence
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