There are certain things of life that all humans should have including food, shelter, clean water and education. There are many places in the world where that is not the case. Living in the United States the rights we are afforded so freely are valuable to us, and we recognize the rights of others to feel valued and treated with kindness, care and respect. Even animals in our society are recognized as valuable and they are treated like they matter.
The question we would like to explore though is how you can treat yourself with dignity. Do you treat yourself like you matter? We treat ourselves with dignity when we take care of our bodies and stand up for ourselves. Here are some ways that we can demonstrate that we matter:
- Healthy foods – when we eat healthy we are supplying ourselves with good things for our body, being careful not to take in harmful things that could shorten our life. Character trait: Self Discipline
- Sleep – getting enough sleep is one of the leading helps to emotional & physical growth Character trait: Orderliness
- Hygiene – Taking care of our body, hair, teeth all is a part to showing we respect ourselves. Character trait: Cleanliness
- Self talk – The words we use and the stories we tell our self has an impact on our emotions and ability to have courage to be ourselves. Character trait: Gentleness
- Standing up for ourselves- Character trait: Assertiveness
Begin with treating yourself with dignity, followed by family, followed by others who are close to us and then we can be of service to those in the world who may not have experienced feeling dignity in their own life.