Take a moment, and imagine you own something very valuable -- maybe a car, a piece of artwork, or jewelry. This is not just any other expensive object though, imagine this object as very unique and so rare that you are the only person in the world that owns this. It has been hand crafted only for you and even though some people may not like it, others are extremely jealous and wish they could have it. You got it for free the day you were born, and until you were old enough to take care of it on your own, your family helped you to keep it out of harm's way. Eventually, this responsibility was passed on, and now your only job is to take care of it yourself.
Imagine you take this valuable object and start to forget its worth. You don't keep it clean or in shape, and you don't care who takes it from you, touches it, uses it, or ruins it. You start to make it seem worthless by showing it off to anyone who wants to see. Even if someone has broken it in the past and it has never been fully fixed, you just give it to them again like it's no big deal. It's crazy to start to not care about something so beautiful and unique, right? Once you realize it will never be the same, it's too late, and it becomes very hard to bring it back to the state it was once in.
Now, replace the object you were just picturing in your head with your own body and mind.
This responsibility for something valuable is real, and it is called self-respect.
Self respect -- a very touchy subject to discuss, but an important one indeed. We, as a society, find it very easy to always be pointing a finger as to why our generation can seem so screwed up at times. Writing as a female, it would be easy to just say that all guys are pigs and society sexualizes women so we can't help but lack self respect at times. However, this is not always the case, and the only reason someone lacks self respect is because they are not personally putting it forward.
Self respect and self confidence are two very different things. I am the biggest advocate for saying that a woman should not be shamed for having confidence in herself. If she is not afraid to voice her opinion, wear whatever clothing she wants, do a job normally done by a man, or anything else that makes her proud, then so be it. You can do all of these confident things, while still respecting yourself at the same time. The difference is that self confidence is more about how you are portrayed on the outside, whereas self respect involves both your outer and inner self.
The line gets crossed when it comes to a point where your "confidence" interferes with how you carry yourself. How you carry yourself defines your character, and your character defines your respect. If you carry yourself in a way that shows that you do not care, others will not care about you either. People may come around and tear you down, sometimes on purpose and other times without even trying. This is something that people often times forget.
You are given one body, one mind, and one life. Your job is to take care of yourself in order to live this life to the fullest. Be healthy, be safe, and be proud of you.
If you want to be healthy, don't starve yourself, eat a healthy meal instead. If you want to feel good, don't intoxicate yourself to enjoy the company of those around you, go out and find something you love to do. If you want to find a boy who truly cares about you, leave the one who cheated on you or doesn't appreciate you. If you want someone to think you're hot, wear clothes that flatter your body the best. If you want to get someone's attention, don't crawl into bed with them, be interesting and get to know them. If something isn't going the way you want it to, don't be mad and complain all day, make a change in your life. If you have good friends surrounding you, don't treat them in a way that you would not want to be treated.
Self respect can blossom from even the smallest of actions. It comes from being yourself, and having pride in it. Not to mention, it comes from treating others with respect as well.
Most importantly though, it comes from not being afraid to love yourself. There is no better feeling than being able to be proud of who you are no matter what the circumstances, and having others look up to you for that. Not changing who you are to please everyone, but also not trying to intentionally hurt others along the way.
Everyone holds amazing potential and value. We are capable of so many things that even our childhood minds have never thought possible. Altering ourselves, harming ourselves, putting ourselves out there in a negative manner or letting others treat us, use us, and abuse us in a negative way only creates barriers to that. This world is full of so many things that can show your true value. If you wouldn't let someone ruin your most valuable materialistic item, why would you let someone ruin your valuable self?
