TREAT YOURSELF AS YOU TREAT OTHERS
1/16/2021: This statement is so astonishing in the face of the fact, when we are growing up, we are told to treat others as we wish to be treated. We are told to put others first and if we don’t, we are selfish. Let this sink in for a moment.
Our parents tell us to play nice, to share our toys and to share our cookies with our friends. We are told to “turn the other cheek” when we are wronged. We are taught in many ways “don’t get mad, people won’t like you” as if this is the worst thing in the world that could happen.
We grow up being taught and thus believing that other people have more rights than we do, that we should always think of someone else first before ourselves. Now I am not promoting acting in uncaring ways when it comes to someone else. We need to be kind and considerate and respectful of other people. The world needs more kindness on all levels.
What I am promoting is that being kind to our self should be a priority in our life. Would you say that same things to a friend that your Ego mind tells you when you are lying in bed trying to go to sleep at night? That you’re not good enough, you’re too fat, you’ll never be a success, no one will ever love you and the litany goes on and on. Our Ego mind puts us down in ways we would never do to a friend.
It is time to treat our self as we would our best friend. It is time to create acts of kindness for our self, time to put us as a priority in our life. Our respect for people in the manner of how we treat them should be the same way we respect and treat us. When other people become more of a priority to us than we are, we are a door mat and we get walked all over.
How many times do you realize that you are not on your list of things to do each day? How many times do we skip taking care of our self because the needs and demands of someone else eats up our time and energy? (I am not talking about aging parents, a sick spouse or our children.) I am talking about personal responsibility to us, taking care of our needs so we can continue to function as a whole person.
How we choose to treat our self, with respect, kindness and love, gives others a clue on how to treat us. A person who has self-respect is treated with respect in return. Some one who has a lack of self-respect is never respected. When we make taking care of our self a priority, we actually have more to give to others. When we give our all away and deplete our inner resources, when we are so burnt out, we have nothing left to give. We cannot contribute to society in a positive manner.
I am not putting forth that we should all be selfish or act in narcissistic ways. I am putting forth the thought that we are worthy of treating our self as we treat everyone else.
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