Short messages on Relationships issues from Respect Yourself, the guidance site for young people to help make good decisions in life.
If you need to ask for help, instead of deciding if you think they’ll help or not, ask and give them the opportunity to decide for themselves.
Other people’s thoughts – good, bad or indifferent – are their own. Enjoy your own life to the full; you can’t please everyone all of the time, and there’s no need to try to.
Accept that you can’t control what other people think. You’ve no idea what might go through their head, or why; everyone responds differently.
Other people might judge you for not meeting up to their standards – but if you’re true to your own goals and values, then you know you’ve got your priorities right.
Whatever someone did to you in the past has no power over the present. Only you give it power.
People change and grow as they go through different phases in life. If you recognise when this happens you can help support them in their development.
No matter how much progress you make there will always be the people who insist that whatever you’re trying to do is impossible. People aren’t always right :)
Spend more time sharing the good news than gossiping about the bad. Notice the effect it has on your mood and the quality of your relationships.
If you hurt someone by accident, apologise immediately and ask if they are okay before they have a chance to react. This will diffuse the situation and show that you care.
If you don’t want to do something that your friends want you to do, you can choose not to do it. You shouldn’t have to do anything that you don’t want to do. If they are really your friends they should respect you and not make you do things that make you uncomfortable.