Are You Honoring Yourself?

Honor

Warning: I use some sports analogies in this post, but you don’t have to be “sporty” to appreciate them, promise!

Last week gave us several particularly poignant displays that showed, in my opinion, a lack of honor. I get turned all inside-out when I see things like this because I know how much damage can be done in a life when you don’t honor yourself.

I saw the first display as the University of Maryland’s football captains refused to shake the hands of their opponents at the start of the game. Come on, who does that? And who are the “leaders” and “adults” who thought that was a good idea? It doesn’t matter who they were playing or what the so-called reasoning was – that was a tremendous failure of leadership and sportsmanship – and if I had the ear of anyone in charge at the University of Maryland, I’d only have one thing to say: You dishonored yourselves and your university.

The second display was when a fist fight and shoving match broke out between two NASCAR drivers after a race. Both drivers blamed the other for their actions both on and off the track. And they both ended up having to be pulled off the other and both had blood on them. So, again, who does that? And what is macho about saying, “he made me do it?,” which, in so many words, was what both of these grown men said about why they were fighting. It doesn’t matter who was more at fault or what the so-called reasoning was – that was a tremendous failure of personal responsibility and sportsmanship – and if I had the ear of anyone in charge at either driver’s camp or NASCAR, I’d only have one thing to say: You dishonored yourselves and the sport that has made you millions of dollars.

Now I know that it’s unlikely that anyone at the University of Maryland or NASCAR is going to care what I think, I’m not a fan of either establishment. But I am a huge fan of showing up in life honoring yourself. 

To honor yourself, you have to have a healthy sense of self-respect and self-esteem.

And the best way to have a healthy sense of self-respect and self-esteem is to do the soul-searching work that opens you up to who you really are, what’s most important to you, and to what your values are.

When you know that about yourself, you have the power to simply decide to compromise elsewhere . . .

Know yourself and show up honoring yourself. No matter your playing field.

What you do next matters . . .

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