Reflection Essay on Self Respect
Joan Didion explores the meaning of self respect. A person who has self respect for him or hers respects others. Respect comes in many different ways. It can be from how one person is taught as growing, earned or derived from family members. Didion’s essay shows us the may form of respect and throughout her writing she portrays various scenarios to define self respect.
A person who does not have self respect does not respect others usually this person has low self-esteem. When a person have low self-esteem, on the outside the person looks tough and unapproachable this is because to hide the insecurities of his or hers inside as Didion said “without self respect is to be unwilling audience of one to an interminable documentary that details one’s failing”. As a society we can be pre-judgmental when we see a person disrespect him or herself we assume that they might not have a good role model or live in a positive environment. The cause of a person’s distraction of self disrespect is associated with behavioural, emotional and family issue most people who grow up with this type of behavior lack self respect.
A person who have self respect, does respect others usually this persons is self assured and have a very good back ground. When a person is fully content and respectful to others it shows that the person has a positive attitude. The more a person values him or her, the more that person knows that they are worth something. The more the person listens to themselves feelings and opinions, the more they know that they are worth something. Self-respect is an important value because its absence reduces self-confidence. Having self respect for one self and others will lead to a successful positive life.
We learn to have self respect from our parents, grad parents, relatives, teachers, clergymen etc…. people we come in contact with frequently especially parents and grand parents are the most influential when it comes to learning because they are the closest person in our lives and most importantly we live with our parents. They treat us in a respectful way everyday they teach us what is wrong and write. For example, growing up I was taught to respect the elders no matter what the situation is and not to swear at people weather old or young. I’m sure that most people are taught growing up by their parent’s one of these values.
Self discipline is something we all need to remind ourselves these days because it is a vital characteristic to have to lead a successful life as Didion said “a discipline, a habit of mind that can never be faked but can be developed, trained, coaxed forth”. Because nothing is as easy as it seems. There are always unexpected challenges and problems on the path to success and achievement. To beat these you must persevere and be strong. Self discipline helps you control your actions and make sure you stay on track. It is helpful if you have fear and need to break out and free yourself. The effect of having discipline improves your life by boosting your confidence and being in control of yourself, your emotions and actions.
Overall, Didion’s essay defines the meaning of respect by various examples and the implication of having or not having self-respect. Having self-respect for ourselves will lead us to have a successful positive life and it gives us more confidence strong self-esteem and a better advantage than the ones that lack self respect. If we don not have self-respect for ourselves, we show low-self-esteem and have a negative out look in life. Respect passes down from one generation to the next. Passing down positivity to our children, then our children will continue to pass down a greater stronger self assured grad children for more generation to come.
