Meeting Life Head On:
Respect Yourself, and Get More From Others

by Steven Stone

Forrest Gump's mother told him that now famous line, that "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get."

That's how many of us look at life. We lament to our closest friends over a drink that our boss is a jerk, and our spouse doesn't appreciate the things we do.

The truth is, we have much more power over our lives than we realize. We are causing people to treat us a certain way, without even realizing it. When you respect yourself, you lay the groundwork for getting respect from other people.

"If the people in your life treat you in an undesirable way, you're going to want to figure out what you are doing to reinforce, elicit or allow that treatment," wrote Dr. Phillip McGraw in his book, Life Strategies. "If you're involved in a relationship in which someone is consistently abusive, exploitive, or insensitive toward you, find out what you're doing to encourage that behavior, so that you can realign the relationship in a more healthy direction."

But how do I do that, you ask? Well, you have to make a decision that your life is important enough to take very seriously. Dr. Phil, as he is commonly known by his fans from the Oprah Winfrey show, suggests you take on the job of life manager, and make an assessment of what is right and what is wrong with your life. You need to make some life decisions, starting with a determination to treat yourself right and expect a certain minimum standard of treatment from others.

Even if you have others to take care of, taking care of yourself has to come first, according to Dr. Phil, because that is what will keep you healthy enough to be there for the ones you love. Your reduced stress level will have a dramatic affect on every aspect of your life.

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About the author:
Steven Stone is a staff writer for SolutionOriented.com.

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