However, there is a reality that is often forgotten. We live first to live our own lives, and then to give meaning to the lives of others. If our whole lives are spent living up to everyone’s expectations, when will we truly be ourselves?
Since childhood we are taught to respect other people. It is good value. However, in the process, many people forget to respect themselves. They are more afraid of disappointing others than betraying their own conscience. They are willing to sacrifice their dreams, beliefs, and even happiness in order to remain accepted by the environment.
Ironically, those efforts are never enough. There are always people who think we talk too much, while others think we are too quiet. There are those who think we are too ambitious, there are also those who think we lack enthusiasm. Human judgment changes according to his point of view. So, making their assessment a standard of living is a job that will never be finished.
Often we are hurt not because we were rejected, but because we believed that rejection was the truth about ourselves. We take other people’s comments as a verdict, even though they don’t necessarily know who we are. They see us through their own experiences, needs, and hopes. What they judge is often not the real us, but the image they build in their minds.
That’s why we don’t need to spend our lives proving that we are worthy of respect. The value of a human being is not born from applause, praise, or recognition. All that can change in an instant. Today someone praises us, tomorrow he may criticize us. If our self-esteem depends on such judgments, then the peace of life will also fluctuate according to other people’s opinions.
This doesn’t mean we turn a deaf ear to criticism. Honest criticism is a mirror that helps us grow. But criticism is different from wrong judgment. Criticism talks about behavior that can be improved. Misjudgments attack a person’s self-worth. Understanding these differences allows us to learn without losing respect for ourselves.
Life is not about being the person everyone likes. Life is about being a person who is responsible for his life choices, loyal to the values he believes in, and continues to grow to be better. When we are able to accept ourselves, we are no longer busy looking for validation from everyone we meet.
It is precisely from self-acceptance that we become more able to love others. People who are at peace with themselves don’t get jealous easily, don’t thirst for recognition, and don’t feel the need to put other people down to feel important. He gives not because he wants to be praised, but because he really wants to give.
In the end, everyone will have their own opinion about us. We can’t control any of that. What we can control is how we view ourselves and how we live our lives with integrity.
We live first to be responsible for ourselves. After that, only then can we benefit others. Because someone who loses himself in order to please everyone, in the end will not really be able to make anyone happy, including himself.
Maybe that’s why the biggest wounds in life often don’t come from rejection. The wounds arise when we allow misjudgments to determine who we are. In fact, self-worth is not something given by other people. Self-worth is born when we dare to know, accept and live life according to our conscience, while continuing to grow into better human beings.
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