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Arianna Huffington Arianna Huffington political powerhouse. media mogul. author.

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Mastin Kipp Mastin Kipp Writer. Entrepreneur. Daily Lover.

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Desmond Tutu Desmond Tutu archbishop. author. peaceful leader.

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Sean Stephenson Sean Stephenson speaker. psychotherapist. life embracer.

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Kia Miller Kia Miller yogi. meditator. teacher.

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Shannon Bindler Shannon Bindler Strategist. Writer. Life Coach.

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Mathieu Bitton Mathieu Bitton Designer. Art Director. Passionate Creator.

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Jorge Perez Jorge Perez Agent. Producer. Photography Enthusiast.

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respect

Don Jose Ruiz Don Jose Ruiz author. musician. shaman.

Don Jose Ruiz dedicates his life to combining and sharing new insights and ancient Toltec wisdom. He teaches and lectures around the world. [www.miguelruiz.com]

The most meaningful thing to me is respect. I respect myself. I respect myself enough to not put myself into situations that will bring me suffering or require me to sacrifice myself for a life I don’t want.

When I ask myself what kind of messenger I am, the answer is that I choose to be a messenger of respect. With respect, all doors open, you can talk with anyone and they understand. Without respect, doors close. Without self-respect, we don’t receive respect.

We think love is sacrifice, but in love we tend to disrespect ourselves so much. I see human sacrifices being made for love everywhere, out of guilt or disrespect. That’s not love. Love begins with respecting ourselves.

For me, the most meaningful thing is to take care of Jose. That is my responsibility. I know myself. I know what I react to, and every time I react to the things that are meaningful to me, I respect myself and my life.

Something important I’ve learned in my training with my father is that if I don’t judge myself other people’s judgments of me will die inside my mind. Of course people are going to judge me, because that’s what they do. But people who speak the language of judgment, a language I used to speak before I started respecting myself more, only bring pain and suffering onto themselves.

When we fall, when we experience heartbreak and pain, we forget to be aware of our self-respect. But that’s perfect, because when we step into awareness from that position we learn something new and so we pull ourselves out. We become aware that we don’t want to live like that anymore and we let our self-respect lead us to something better.

One of the ways I help myself stay on track is to use a recording device: I press the record button and state my truth or express gratitude for my happiness, then I press play and listen to it over the next few days. Every time I feel heartbreak or pain, I push the play button and listen to the real me. I respect the part of me that knows best.

The important things are to respect ourselves, to have integrity, to always be truthful with ourselves, to never pretend, to do the best we can, and to be grateful to be alive.

– Don Jose Ruiz

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