Favorite Inspirational Quotes

To free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves - there lies the great, singular power of self-respect.

Joan Didion

I picked this inspirational quotes from the quotes that are sent out every week day from Simpleology.  I chose it at first because I wasn’t quite sure what it meant but as I keep reading it, the meaning seems simple even if not simple to put into effect.

When you have self-respect, what others expect of you mean little.  You are free of those expectations.  Free of the expectations of parents, siblings, society, friends, co-workers, bosses, religious institutions and political parties.  The rallying cry of teenagers, “But everyone is doing it,” really becomes a moot point.

With self-respect, it is our own expectations of ourselves that is important.  And it seems to me that if you do have self-respect, then those expectations are going to be high, to drive you to the best you are and can be.

So the question becomes how do you develop that self-respect?  I read of one technique in Insight of the Day that the author said originally came from Jack Canfield, though I have heard of it other places.

Go to your bathroom where you can look yourself in the eye.  Begin to tell yourself the good things about you.  This may be difficult at first.  I know I have problems with it.  But keep working on it.  You are focusing on the positive, rather than the negative we seem to be trained to do.

What you focus on increases and over time you will find more and more positive things to tell you about yourself.  Over time, it is just one technique that can lead to self-respect.

Tags: positive