My Least Favorite Text Response
One of my least favorite text responses is “okay”, or even worse, “ok”, or “k”.
Can I get a little more enthusiasm? Please?!?!?
It’s a silly pet peeve to have, but it also resonates with an important aspect of self-love: self-respect. As I’ve been in the process of learning to love myself, I’ve found many times in my past when I did not respect myself, and in doing so, was not loving myself.
The incorrect responses to an opportunity to spend time with me include, but are not limited to: “okay”; “K”; “ok”; “cool”; “alright”
Correct Responses
The correct responses included, but are not limited to: “Yay!”; “Okay!”; “Can’t wait!”; “So excited!”; “Totally!”
This is not to say that I am superior to anyone else, or that my time is more valuable than anyone else’s, because it isn’t. This is to say that I value myself, that I value my time, and those who value my time as well are welcome in my life.
Knowing My Value
I used to believe that my time wasn’t valuable. I thought I was boring, weird, possibly annoying, overzealous, what have you. On occasion, I am certainly any of those things, but that doesn’t make me any less awesome to spend time with.
Self-Respect and Love
When I respect myself, I respect my time spent with others. And that means I chose to be around people who respect me, too. I foster a mutual bond of respect with myself and people in my life, because we each deserve to be respected.
A problem arises when we stop respecting ourselves, because it means we stop valuing ourselves, and stop setting standards for how to be treated by other people. When I believed my time wasn’t valuable, I would put up with people who did not value my time; when I believed I wasn’t worth respecting, I would allow people into my life who did not respect me.
Who We Are
We are not just “ok”. We are special, creative, powerful, and amazing, and deserving of respected, but we must first respect ourselves. Respect our needs, our bodies, our words, and our time, because they are important.
Let’s regard ourselves with admiration.
Take pride in yourself, because you are not just an “okay” kind of person, you are a “CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU” kind of person, just for being you.
Don’t let anyone, especially yourself, tell you otherwise.
-XOXO, BeachBumPoet