Dignity and self-awareness

27 Apr Dignity and self-awareness

Self-awareness strengthens dignity

Your self-awareness helps your dignity You know yourself and have a standard that you set for yourself. You live according to an expected set of behaviours that you aim to live by.

Living up to the standard that you set for yourself strengthens your awareness of your day-to-day actions. You live more mindfully and know, quickly, when you fall short of your own rules.

When you fall short, that’s OK, it’s normal. Nobody is perfect. We all do things that we wish we had done differently. Learn from your mistakes and take the time to reflect on what you would do differently next time.

How to treat others with dignity

Treating people with respect, especially those who are sick, injured and aging, is a way of helping them to feel a sense of respect within themselves.

Respecting a person’s wishes and needs by offering them assistance to do things that they may generally do for themselves provides an opportunity for them to feel a sense of self-worth and respect.

Asking a child to make a small practice choice about when to bath, what to wear or another small practical matter allows them to grow in confidence and feel worthy of making decisions for themselves. To assist an aged or sick person in maintaining their dignity, you could comb their hair.

Why dignity is important

Dignity matters to everyone. It is acknowledging our feeling of worthiness and believing that our place in the world matters.

When dignity is violated, it is reasonable to feel that you do not matter and have a reduced feeling of self-worth. While this is understandable, it is not sound. Just because someone else does not value you that doesn’t mean that you should accept that judgment. It is theirs, not yours.

You are valuable. Be confident in your abilities. Know that you are worthy. Take your dignity, your self-respect and worthiness back. Dignity is essential, for you and everyone. Don’t give yours up for anyone.