R-E-S-P-E-C-T

   Sorry about not posting in a long time. I've been taking care of some medical stuff and needed to focus on that for awhile. I'm happy to announce that has been taken care of and I'm back on my own track.

  I have written about five different versions of this post. It's hard to explain why I think learning to respect yourself is so important and why I believe you have to respect yourself before you can love yourself. I decided to avoid all of the technical and boring definitions  and go with how I feel and what I believe.

  When you think about people you care about and like to be around, you realize you have some form of respect for each of those people. You may respect them for a personality trait, an achievement they have had, or  lots of other options.

  Now, think about what you respect about yourself. This might be hard, especially if you have low self-esteem. If you can't come up with anything, you can't expect other people to come up with reasons to respect you, either. 

  If you find what you respect about yourself, then you will begin to treat yourself better, which will make you happier. When you are happier, other people will be more comfortable around you and will also treat you with more respect. If you only focus on your faults, you will be miserable and unhappy. When you are unhappy, other people will be less comfortable around you and won't respect you.

  Sharing your list with other people can be hard. Don't worry about what other people will think about your list. This is YOUR list, not their list. Here are a few things on my list of things that I respect about myself:

• I am a very patient person which makes me a great person to train new employees at work.
• I am a creative person. This includes crafts, art, cooking and baking.
• I like helping people. This is also one of the reasons I wanted to start this blog.
• I like to make people happy. (This can sometime be a bad thing, so I have to make sure to keep it on the positive side.) I'm good at calming an angry 3-year-old niece and get her to laugh while she's still wiping her tears off of her face from her temper-tantrum.

  This is a very short list, but it should help you start on your own list. Work on your list a little at a time. Keep the list somewhere you can get to it easily to add more to it or review it often, especially when you are feeling down.