Respecting yourself and knowing your worth seem like things that most of us do everyday. We take care of our bodies and minds, we treat others with kindness, we help those that we love and care for. When we engage with these practices, it gives us a sense of fulfillment. We find that our actions allow us a place to fit in. What we tend to forget is that there is power in standing out.

It may come to a point where we may so deeply want to avoid confrontation that we let the small things slide. Regardless of the degree of the action, both small and big grievances that go unaddressed often pile up, resulting in a challenging expression of avoided emotions. We don't want to speak up because we don't want to be left out. We fear what might happen to our self-esteem if people don't like us. There is comfort in being liked, but there is power in being respected.

I believe that self-respect is an ongoing process that continues to change as we get older. It is affected by the people we cross paths with and the situations we experience as a result. There are many times that people have done things that hurt me, but I simply did not address them out of fear of losing someone that I care about. What I am just now starting to process is that, the more I didn't address things, the more people felt they did not need to respect me. The more experiences I have and the more I continue to grow, I am discovering my worth. I am dabbling with the idea of what self-respect means to me, and though I do believe the process is outgoing, it has come down to one basic principle for me. Even though I might communicate clearly, I cannot make other people respect my boundaries. It is at that point that I can choose to avoid the issues at hand, or address them and remove myself from the situation. If you are not crossing someone else's boundaries, they should not be allowed to cross yours.

There is power in practicing self-respect.