I mourn for all self-masochists. I am a recovering one myself. This battle has been a significant struggle for me for many years. We will unpack that a bit more later. First, more recently and specifically, I also mourn for Lindsey Vonn’s physical body. In my opinion, the writing was on the wall, clear as day. If you rupture one of your ACLs within a week or two of the Olympics, do you really think you should still be competing?
Do not seek out complication. Treat your duty with respect.
-from Apocrypha
The Olympics are an elite pinnacle of athletic performance. If you are nowhere near 100%, how do you expect to perform well against others who are? How much unnecessary pressure was placed on so many of her faculties? I am so upset by how poorly she listened to her body. In my opinion, her ego and/or pride pushed her to ignore the flashing lights on her body’s dashboard. Was it worth it? No. Think about all the costs now piling up because she did not step aside and let someone healthier participate instead. I hope she has a smooth and speedy recovery, and I also hope she is learning some hard-won lessons from this frustrating experience. Stubbornly pressing on may never be the answer in almost any situation. Where is the self-respect in that scenario?
Treat yourself with the same love and respect you want to show others. That’s the Other Golden Rule.
-Jay Shetty
We often beat ourselves up because we think it is what we deserve. It was how we were conditioned in our childhood: “these verbal, emotional, and possibly even physical abuses are part of life; we might as well apply them to ourselves, too.” This realization dawned on me recently, and it saddens me deeply. With this knowledge now being apparent to me, though, I can offer myself more grace, patience, and self-respect. I find myself being calmer and gentler when I do something wrong. No more name-calling. No more piling more problems onto what is already there. I am now playing on my own team, and I love it. Enough other competitors will challenge us. Why should we keep doing that as well?
Self-respect is a blueprint for respecting others.
-Jeff Warren
What perfect timing today that I forgot to clean my glass from orange juice at breakfast this morning. I am typically very methodical with having everything put back away after my routine meals. However, this morning, for one reason or another, I left that glass sitting out all day while at work. My only response to seeing it this afternoon was “oh nooo” in a light and easy way before promptly cleaning it and putting it away. Sadly, I can easily imagine how colorfully denigrating I would have been to myself in the past. Gladly, it shows what self-respect I have deliberately developed and now possess at present :)
When [everyone is] able to respect and accept their differences, then love has a chance to blossom.
-John Gray
Highlighting another recent note, we often punish ourselves because we apply more hate to situations than love. As we learn to practice and perfect self-love, we do better for ourselves and all others. So, like the Jumbotrons displayed at the end of Bad Bunny’s amazing Halftime show during yesterday’s Super Bowl, “THE ONLY THING MORE POWERFUL THAN HATE IS LOVE.” Choose wisely, my friends. Love is an amazing and beautiful constant in life if we choose to channel it. Have enough respect to do so.
Mutual courtesy and respect is the foundation of culture.
-Mahatma Gandhi
There is no longer a need to continue beating yourself up for things in the past. If you knew then what you know now, would you have acted and behaved differently? I hope so because that is what matters most now, turning over a new leaf and stepping out on a better foot. Showing the world that you can and will be better than before. We can learn from our problems in the past and show wise respect by no longer repeating mistakes.
I have great respect for the past. If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you don’t know where you’re going.
-Maya Angelou
The best way to respect ourselves and others is by learning indirectly from those who have come before us. What if we abuse our minds, bodies, and souls less (or not at all) by not directly experiencing so many mistakes since we see them in others? How much healthier and happier can we be? Honestly, my health may be at a peak right now. I say that humbly and proudly, with a balanced level of respect for myself because I know what strong work I am putting in; I can see how it is paying off. I still have a long road ahead of me, but I am thankful to walk it; I hope you will start respecting your walk, too.
Maybe it is wise. Maybe it is dumb. Time will tell.