It's time for another Bi-Weekly Question by @abundancetribe, mostly because it is so well phrased this time, that right when I saw it, I had a bunch of ideas cascading through my mind. So all I had to do was organize them in a coherent manner. The question in question is very simple: How Do You Honor Yourself?
Finding the Lord Within Me
Going back to my formative years, filled with plenty of passionate discussions on topics related to religion and philosophy, one of the constantly reemerging points of contention was the idea of the lord, which is so ubiquitous in (not only) Christian religions. Who is this elusive deity, who while omnipresent is never really there, while omnibenevolent can inflict the most cruel and unusual punishments on any of us, and while shrouded in mystery, seems to dole out very specifically defined rules. Steering clear of religious debates, suffice to say that I have been very critical to the entire concept of God the Lord.
At the same time, I developed my own set of concepts, focusing more on what I considered important: my own self, the world immediately around me, including all the other selves in it, including not only humans, but animals and plants, and even inanimate objects, as well as immaterial ideas. We are all gods of our own right, in a world of endless possibilities, still all of us completely unique in space and time. And for the time of our temporary existence, each one of us remains what we are. We may try to see the world from each other's perspective, but ultimately our own view will be our "home angle" until we die. What a profound realization!
Not only did this reasoning break up monotheism in favor of a myriad of constantly changing deities, but it elevated each entity onto the level of supreme deity, from their own perspectives. In other words, everyone became their own lord.
Suddenly Everything Made Sense
Once I had reached this point in my train of thought, things started to fall into place. Such phrases as The Lord's Day or Honoring the Lord made a lot of sense, when applied to myself. Just like when running a business, the best practice is to pay yourself before anything else. Or taking a well deserved rest at the end of the week (or even within the week, if that's what you need). Because there may be many things that you may consider important, but out of sheer logic, nothing can be more important than you.
Under such a viewpoint, I feel proud and excited to see others taking a similar approach in prioritizing their own physical, mental, and social well being in favor of making sacrifices to gain another end, which is more extrinsic in nature. What comes to mind is the recent story of an Olympic gymnast, valuing her own bodily health higher than competing for a medal. Way to go, Simone Biles, for treating yourself like the lord (or lady)!
Nothing Selfish About Self Love
At this point I'd also like to emphasize how little this attitude has to do with selfishness. After all, by prioritizing ourselves we don't take away anything from anyone else. And what kind of altruism would it be, if the giver takes so much away from themselves that they would end up deprived afterwards? I like to bring up the analogy of children and the oxygen masks on airplanes: We are instructed to always put on our own masks before helping others, and it makes perfect sense. After all, who would help junior if mommy passes out? Also, how would it feel to be helped by someone who is also in deep distress themselves, rather than by someone who's well taken care of?
Honoring Honor
The other thing I want to mention here, is honoring the concept of honor. If we fall off the other side of the horse, so to speak, and end up showering ourselves with undeserved praise, unjustly elevating our self image, and a disproportionate amount of benefits at the expense of everyone else, what results happening is giving honor a bad name. Not only is this just as bad for our selves (the lords in ourselves) as exaggerated self-sacrifice, but it also drives us far away from the originally intended meanings of honor, fairness, and what is deserved. By then it becomes super difficult to approach these concepts with an unobstructed mindset, since these key concepts have become too slanted to be practical any longer.
For this reason, I like to stress that honoring myself also includes honoring honor, and thus taking care of myself in the best proper way. In other words, whenever I do good things for myself, I also take into consideration all other beings around me (including the concept of honor), and remind myself that doing things for my own self should ultimately benefit every other self. If done properly, acts of self love will create even more love towards others. No wonder, this also explains why you have to love yourself in order to love your neighbors.