Learning to Respect Myself Part II

I will never regret giving someone I care about the benefit of the doubt. I will never think twice about waiting, listening, sizing up all of the information. It is easy in personal relationships to have widely ranging emotions. It is not always easy to manage them appropriately. I am queen bee in that area. Passionate to a fault. But I am learning where the lines are.

The line for me these days is respect. In my life, generally, I feel that I am well respected. Maybe not always liked… but mostly respected. I don’t demand respect. It is just a part of who I am to work hard to respect other & expect that in exchange. I think it is a natural reciprocal relationship when respect is mutual.

However, when respect is a one way street it has become adamantly, strongly & sometimes vehemently unacceptable to me. Disrespect is offensive and often times surprising. Sometimes shocking. I recently had this encounter with someone that I had considered a friend. I have completely walked away from that relationship, realizing that if they do not respect me enough to show basic civil and moral decency, there is no place in my life for them. I work hard to be a good woman, a good mother, daughter, worker. Not because I want to impress anyone but because I want to like myself. I want to live my life without regrets as much as possible and I want to respect the life I lead. I have worked to try to be a high caliber woman. I will not be treated as anything but. If someone in your life does not realize the caliber of person you are and treats you as less, it will only lead to pulling you down to the level in which they regard you rather than keeping you on an upward climb. If I allowed this abuse of my self esteem to continue it would only drag me down. My life is in too much of an upward turn for me to risk it now on unproductive and damaging relationships.

As I age, self respect is becoming more concrete. More defined. I like myself & loath my missteps more with each passing year. But I am finding who I am, and that is amazing.