Thy Honor is a Precious Commodity 
 
  By Vijai P. Sharma, Ph.D
 
 Do you respect yourself?  I mean respect.  You may like yourself and you may even love yourself, but it shouldn't be automatically assumed that you also respect yourself.  There are lots of people in this world who love themselves, but too few who respect themselves.  

 Self-respect is a most precious commodity.  There are just a few things in the world that can give you true satisfaction, happiness and pride.  True respect for yourself is one of them.  It is more important than material things.  For what good is the wealth and fame if you lose respect for yourself?  

People who respect themselves are persons of integrity, and only people with integrity can respect themselves.  Self-respecting people live by the high standards they set for themselves.  It doesn't matter to them whether someone is watching them over their shoulders or if they are left to themselves, they will perform according to the standards they uphold.  Those who have lost respect for themselves have nothing to lose.  If nobody is watching, they will try to get away by doing the least and grabbing the most. 

If you don't respect yourself, you will fall for the first temptation that falls in your lap.  How far can you go and how will you reach your destination if you keep falling on every step?  

A person with low self-respect makes a lot of excuses to recover self-respect:  "I am only human."; "You would be tempted too.  We all would."; "I am not perfect, you know."; "I am not exactly proud of it."; "Okay, I made a mistake, all right."  
Never value anything that will make you break your word and lose your self-respect.  Doing the right thing when you know that it will bring pain and suffering is the true mark of self-respect.  
 
 

 


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