New Consciousness Review Spring 2016 | Page 55

INSPIRATION only the ‘good’ parts of your life for examination.  All of your life has had value!  ever, is a learned skill that many people are never taught. We are taught that we should have self-respect, but not how to get it. Too frequently the belief is that we can earn self-respect by making enough money, pleasing others, getting promoted, losing weight and so forth.  In actuality, the opposite is true; self-respect is the precursor to success. So how do we learn to respect ourselves if we are not yet, in society’s terms, beautiful, fit, talented, or wealthy?  It is no small feat to be a surviving Human Being in our present society.  In fact, it is amazing!  Nobody but you knows what your experience has been.  Gaining self-respect involves recognizing the effort you have put into living your life, no matter your present circumstances- acknowledging all of the time and energy you have spent struggling, loving, hurting, suffering, discovering, working, succeeding, failing, and feeling frustration, joy and disappointment in order to be alive in the present moment. Notice that there is no mention of culling 55 | NEW CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW Take obesity, for example.  In today’s society, most overweight people feel badly about themselves because of a perceived notion that they are somehow ‘lesser than’ because of their weight. T