When you sit down and think about it, at the end of the day there are only three things in the world that matter: the way you feel about others, the way others feel about you, and the way you feel about you.
For really, what other than human connection and emotion is there to drive us day by day? What else is the constant force behind all actions, thoughts, and words? What gives us a purpose or motive? What makes us want to be better people, and thus create a more significant society?
The people we choose to surround ourselves with echo what we think of ourselves. If we are to be with or care for people who consistently bring our spirits down, who degrade us into nothing more than a shell, who leave us wondering what bit of good is left in them, then we are choosing not to be content. We are choosing not to be loved, simply because we think we do not deserve it. To be surrounded by people who love and support us and our own morals and beliefs is to be where we belong.
That being said, the way people think of you does matter; and we can still go through life thinking of ourselves as individuals. Caring about how we impress upon people is not shallow or conforming. To be one’s own person does not mean we need to rebel, be rude, or challenge the norm. If we think the best of ourselves, do we not wish that others judge us the same way? Would we rather like people to think of us as kind and happy, not rude? Is there a person in the world that is happy to be thought of as offensive and impolite? Is there someone who is happy to be that person no one else wants to be around? If we are to be treated with respect and pleasantness, then it is not a crime to treat others the same and we should. No one deserves respect outright: it is worked for and earned through our own measures; we must give people a reason to think we deserve it.
Lastly, we cannot burden others with the duty of our own happiness. We must look within and depend on those tools to create an atmosphere of comfort. We cannot depend on the opinions of others to create our own image. Self-confidence, self-respect, delight in one’s life can only be ensured, stabilized, and guaranteed by one person, and that is yourself. We cannot make others happy without making ourselves happy first. It is not selfish to think of yourself highly; no one else knows you well enough to do so, thus the duty is left to yourself. If you have the confidence to believe you deserve happiness, then you will grasp it for yourself; you will work towards the people and things that make you smile. It is the formation of our own mindset that gives us the power to express upon others our own confidence and contentment with ourselves. The choice of working towards that happiness is a choice of power; and the decision to take that power is to become responsible for ourselves as adults.
How do we treat others? Behavior towards one another is a self reflection of ourselves. As human beings, we cannot think or believe that someone is mistreating another of intended viciousness or contempt outright. With the exception of spite and revenge, we should not believe that actions are done for the purpose of hurting the other. There are far too many people in the world to think someone can be purely malicious; in everyone’s head, each person is correct by their own right. Things cannot be so black and white in a world so vast. Therefore, do we take action without listening, understanding, and perhaps sympathizing? To be a human is to feel and to have the ability to express those emotions; if we react without thinking, there is nothing that separates us from the creatures whose lands we have overrun. To understand the other is the strongest form of human will and emotion.
(Nothing really that exciting, just some scribbles while I'm supposed to be doing work. Must admit, though, it sounds quite pretty.)
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