Self-Respect: The Yellow Brick Road to Happiness

If I had to choose between self-respect or happiness I would have to say that is kind of an odd question. It seems apparent to me and extremely obvious that the two go hand in hand with one another. Personally I think that self-respect is something that is required in order to be completely happy. Without self-respect there will always be something nagging at the back of your brain and you will have no strength left from being so extremely self-conscious that you won't have the time to be happy. What is self-respect to you? Self respect to me is a person's ability to have confidence, take pride in what they have, and also be proud of what they have accomplished. Self-respect is more than just a characteristic, it is a way of living. To live with self-respect means to live with being yourself and not wanting to change who you are. It is to live with the thought that everything you do is your very own way and you are neither hypocritical nor trying to be something your not. In order to have self respect one has to accept themselves fully for who they are. They have to realize that everyone has their imperfections and because they are your very own, your imperfections are perfectly perfect for your imperfect self. And lastly self respect is having the ability to look in the mirror and not look at everything that is wrong with you, but realize that there are so many greater things about yourself that outshine your flaws.

Happiness. How can you be happy unless you have self respect. I don't think anyone can be completely happy unless they are happy with themselves. If a person dislikes themselves and considers themselves to be happy they are living a lie and are therefore not happy. A person may say that they have given up all their self respect in order to be happy for instance, with the person they love and want to spend their life with, but honestly, they have a healthy dose of self respect. They respect themselves by respecting their choices and believing that it is the right decision. It is the confidence in making that choice that enables a person to live in a happy situation. People who work in places that are thought to be demeaning like stripper clubs are only using their jobs that are considered to be taking away their self-dignity in order to transition into a happier life. With these jobs people are allowed to reap the benefits they need in order to sustain life.

There are so many characteristics that come hand in hand with "self respect". There are dignity, pride, humbleness, faithfulness, perserverence, confidence, and hopefulness just to name a few. I say faithfulness because if a person does not have the capacity to stay faithful I feel that they lack the self-confidence to realize the good that they have. I say perserverence because a person with self- respect does not just give up when they believe something is right. They don't let their beliefs be shoved into the corner because a person with self-respect knows that their opinion means something no matter how huge the world is. I say hopefulness as a part of self-respect because it is necessary to have hope in order to sustain life and remain happy even through the hardest times. In Greek Myths they say that when Pandora was made as punishment to make the lives of men basically miserable, she was given a box. She was told not to open it because if she did the worst things that one could ever think of would be released like stress, frustration, and other things that tend to make life hard for us. Out of curiosity she opened the box and released illness and other horrible things into the world, but it is said that the only thing that remained in the box was hope. I don't mean to preach to you about Greek Mythology, I merely am trying to prove a point. Hope stayed in the box because if hope is released then hope is lost. Hope is necessary to stay in the minds of men because it brings happiness and wishing into those hearts that suffer during hard times. Self-respect sounds like its something simple to understand, but in writing this I realize that it is more like a large theory that is changed from person to person. This is just my theory about self-respect and happiness. It's like a math problem. Without self-respect, the equation can never equal happiness.