Power to Respect…

Hi everyone,

I would like to congratulate each and every One of You on showing courage and acceptance by coming along on a journey with this powerful Study Group. As we explored and practiced each of the 21 Powers discussed in my book ‘Will to Wonder’, it enabled an amazing opportunity for us all to come together and bring change into the world – through transforming ourselves. Not only did you come along but you participated in it – with many of you seeing incredible results – and now you are about to finish it, so pat yourself on the back!… And what a Power to finish with, this has to be one of my all time favorite Powers!

Our 21st Power is the 6th Jewel – Power to Respect – page 51….

‘To respect all who live on Mother Earth
starts with realizing what I AM worth!
A radiant star, flawlessly shining,
digging deep to find my silver lining.
A sparkle of truth is that I AM a Soul.
Reclaiming my Powers?… My ultimate goal!’

** The Power to Respect is the ability to re-think and re-store my own value system – remaining true to myself by ensuring that my thoughts, words and actions are equally elevated. To live a life that reflects my spiritual worth – not my physical worth. The more I value myself, the more I value others… And the more others will value me!

** I am the light… I value my own sparkle as I value the brightness of others…

** Supporting Virtues: Broad-minded, Humility, Discernment, Courage, Silence, Tolerance

Tips:
1. Always check yourself to maintain self respect when respecting others (an arena where self respect is easily compromised).

2. Respect is the ability to say no (lovingly) when necessary and without guilt or explanation. To collude in the behavior of others is to lack respect for self and others.

3. Each time you catch yourself worrying about what others think – Stop, Breathe – remind your Self that focusing on the behavior of others rather than on your own actions, is NOT Respect!… Then do what you need to do while loving your Self.

Questions to churn:
1. If someone says ‘no’ to me, do I get upset – maybe even try to manipulate a ‘yes’ – or do I accept ‘no’ as ‘no’?
2. Do I have trouble saying ‘no’ to others?
3. Do I compromise – or worse, completely sacrifice – my own Virtues to ‘please’ others?

Having been a ‘people pleaser’ most of my life I’ve come to really appreciate this Power. Not understanding in the past how often I literally handed over my power to anyone who was ‘nice‘ to me – often not realising till it was too late – and then the inevitable surprise and hurt when things stopped working, leaving me shattered and wondering what happened!… Here’s the bottom line – no-one will respect you if you do not respect yourself. Low self worth cannot be hidden, just as high self worth cannot be hidden – no matter how much you try to cover it up. Therefore this is such a beautiful power as it is based on truth. We can pretend to respect others through socially conditioned politeness, but ultimately we will be ‘found out’ – a reason why so many live in fear. Or we can stop living in fear by learning to love who we are – our strengths and our weaknesses!

When we accept ourselves we start to accept others, mutual respect grows and becomes an automatic benefit… You see, we can only truly respect others when we learn to value and respect ourselves, when we learn to value and respect nature, and we learn to value and respect the drama of life.

Happy Self Respect Week – may you be open to situations that help cultivate your inner power. Look forward to hear your stories – Lots of love Annemarie x