Short messages on Positive change from Respect Yourself, the guidance site for young people to help make good decisions in life.
If you’re hurting, give yourself the necessary space and time to hurt, and be open about it. Talk to those closest to you, and tell them the truth about how you feel. Let them listen.
Learn to love and value things when they are less than perfect. You can accept and appreciate the world as it is, and people as they are, rather than to trying to make everything and everyone conform to an impossible ideal.
Forgiveness is for you, not the person you are forgiving. More often than not, the person you are forgiving will never know you’ve forgiven them. It is a gift you need to give yourself.
Supporting, guiding, and making contributions to other people is one of life’s greatest rewards.
Treat everyone with the same level of respect you would give to your grandfather and the same level of patience you would have with your baby brother.
Finding happiness in the small things that happen every day, like the smell of a homecooked meal, or holding hands with someone you care for, can make a big difference in the quality of your life.
It’s good to take stock of a situation and realise when an opportunity presents itself. Take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves today, as they may be different from tomorrow’s opportunities.
How you see yourself is more important than how others see you. Set your own values and live to them, and this is what others will see.
Don’t let the opinions of others stand in your way. What they think and say about you isn’t important. What is important is how you feel about yourself.
For the most part, what other people think and say about you doesn’t matter. When you leave school, nearly all the people whose opinions you care so much about will no longer be a part of your life.