Reverence | Dave & Madison

Walk with your head held high.

With the rise of depression, anxiety, and a whole load of other mental health difficulties, many people have been trying to find their own methods of therapy. Most people now have indulged in this idea of “self-love”, a narrative that insinuates the reason why people have mental health difficulties is because they lack self-love.

The idea goes that if you love yourself, accept yourself for who you are and show yourself more compassion, you will be better equipped to handle your difficulties with mental health. As with all man-made ideologies and systems, this particular concept was born from good intentions. However, as well-meaning as it is, it is not a well-developed or adequately nuanced solution.

What people are lacking is not self-love, but self-respect. In fact, people love themselves a bit too much. We are in love with our own emotions, we love when people pay attention to us and praise us, and if most of us were honest, would love if the world spun exactly the way we wanted it to. We need self-respect. If you respect yourself, you see yourself the way you truly are, flaws and all. You are willing to be held accountable and accept full responsibility for your mistakes.

Self-respect is built through rebuke, correction, and discipline. It does not focus on the self, but focuses on serving and loving others.