An ongoing search for respect of self

June 16, 2018 2:01 PM

How do you come to respect yourself?

Does the journey call
for epic achievements like scaling mountains and winning triathlons and
building million dollar businesses?

Or does it come from the simple, ordinary
and everyday victories you achieve in the battle of being a human being?

Faulkner once said that the only thing worth writing about is the human heart
in conflict with itself. Maybe that’s where respect for yourself starts. In the
ordinary difficulties of living.

Like when you listen closely to your real
feelings, and then honor whatever arises. Or when you give yourself the freedom
to express your emotions, and then refuse to judge yourself for having them. Or
when you permit yourself to put words to your needs, and then take an active
part in meeting those needs.

Or when you develop faith in your own experience,
relying on inner resources to support you. And when you honor the journey
you’re on, and then trust whatever step you take to be the right one.

In each
of these moments, you’re reframing everything you do as a conscious choice and
facing the world each day as your best self. That’s worth your respect. And
there are no medals and awards and acronyms bestowed upon you for your
accomplishment.

Because that’s not the point. Nobody even has to know. This
battle is between you and you.

Mckee famously wrote in his screenwriting bible
that true character is revealed in the choices a human being makes under
pressure. The greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation, the truer the
choice to the character’s essential nature.

Notice, he said nothing about
climbing mountains. Just making choices.

That’s victory enough.

LET ME ASK YA THIS...

How did you come to respect yourself?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com