Self-Respect is a Discipline

 I feel as though people need to obtain a certain level of self-respect to want to do things for themselves. I think it's hard to be motivated to do things if someone doesn't respect themselves. I equate self-respect to having self-confidence. People have to have the self-confidence to do a lot of things for themselves in life. For example, getting a job or going to college both require a person to have a level of self-confidence/self-respect. To achieve any goal you have to have the motivation to do it, and that motivation requires self-respect. 

I'm going to school to become a Physician Assistant, but I didn't always want to do this. I wouldn't say I'm a lazy person but at the start of college, I didn't want to do much in life. I knew if I was going to school, I wanted to be in the healthcare field, but I didn't have the motivation to fully commit to that at the time. Part of it had to do with some mental and emotional issues, another part was a lack of motivation, and lastly, I just didn't have much confidence in myself to do it. I didn't see a point in going to college, but I did it because my mom wanted me to. I started in Nursing, but quickly realized it wasn't for me. I took a semester off and didn't do much of anything besides work. When I went back to school, I was a Political Science major, and I thought it was nice, but I couldn't see myself continuing in that field. So, I took another semester off, and this time I thought about what I was doing with my life. What did I want to do with myself? I hadn't really thought about it.

Self respect Drawing by E C - Fine Art America

After a period of reflection, I settled on a major and figured out why I wanted to do it. It took a while, but I had gained this "I can do it" attitude that motivated me to believe I could succeed in this major and, eventually, the healthcare field. I had gained a certain level of self-respect and confidence in myself to get done what I knew I could get done. This is why I agree with what Didion said about self-respect being a discipline. It's something that you have to build up and gradually get into. I don't think you can fake it because it will show in your actions eventually. It's good to have true self-respect because it will most likely have a great impact on your life. 



Comments

  1. Aisha-
    I totally agree with you that self-respect is something that has to be disciplined/learned. I think that it is something you have control over, but having a good support system can really help you learn how to love yourself. The other aspect that you bring up in your post is the aspect of time. You have to take the time to commit to learning this and you did it, and I am glad that you took the time off from school to focus on this and gain the confidence that you can accomplish anything you put your mind to. I had a similar struggle myself so I can totally relate to this, even taking time off of school to do so. Proud of you that you were able to do this. Great post, and keep on going! You got this!

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  2. Aisha, I love your interpretation of both self-respect and self-confidence. They are so important to living through your everyday life. The fact that you had to learn this through real life is really admirable.

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