How to Conquer the Labels from Others
“There I was...in 7th grade, out of breath from my weight, dressed in hand-me down clothing that didn’t fit right, shoes that weren’t cool, and glasses that I had to almost constantly hold to my face. I was just trying to play a game of basketball, but all I could think about was what others thought about me.” - Isaiah
Respect is Not Guaranteed
We won't always be shown respect and it's not guaranteed. In fact I was bullied for not using “bad” language in the way other young men did, for dressing differently, praying in lunch, having an abnormally big family, and just about anything those insecure people could think up.
It hurt.
But not as much as the feeling that I could never add up to their expectations. As men our highest need is to feel respect, but we often wrongly confuse respect with status because of the false importance shown by society on how much we make, what we wear, what we look like, and what we have.
This is the battle between perception and reality
In order to conquer the perceptions of others, I want you to know what you’re really battling against. Perceptions are built by a lot of things: what our peers say, how well we have done in the past, and a lot of the time it's what social media or strangers say.
Below I will explain how we conquer these perceptions (along with some excerpts from Tony Dungy's book “UNCOMMON”):
Step 1.
“Determine WHO you really are - or should be.” - Tony Dungy
Not according to the world or society. Know your strengths and weaknesses.
Step 2.
Know your passion
This will help you discover your purpose, which will drive your actions and habits, that build your character.
Step 3.
“Look deeper into things and use resources like the Bible to help us define what manhood truly is”. - Tony Dungy
Seek out who God says men are, who He says you are:
Respect is given, not bought or taken. It starts with us respecting others, and comes from those who admire us for who we are, not what we have.
We must be the person that we want respect from, and those people will find us and fill our hearts with more respect than we could imagine.
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