Friday, February 3, 2012

Know Your Value. Know Your Worth.

By Dorothy J. Hill

Know Your Value. Know Your Worth.

In life, there are a lot of things that we have to deal with. As a child, you basically have to do whatever it is that you’re told to do. This could be dictated by a parent, guardian or teacher. It didn’t matter what you thought of the situation at that early age, you just had to do as you were told. As you grow older and develop a stronger sense of yourself, you begin to realize that you don’t necessarily have to do as you’re told. Even as a child, you may have picked up on it, but once you become a teenager, you begin to challenge certain things that are thrown at you. Some may rebel against their parents or any other authoritative figure and others may just simply comply with the rules that have been set forth for them. Either way it goes, it can be a tough situation.

As an adult, you still face situations where you may be given directions or orders to follow. This can still be dictated by a parent, guardian or teacher and more relatively a boss. Now, by this point, your sense of self and understanding of life as a whole has changed tremendously compared to how it was at a younger age. You have to learn how to decipher certain situations and know when and when not to do certain things. When you’re in a job setting, there is a hierarchy present, as is the case in just about every instance. You report to work and you are provided with specific duties that you must complete either for that day, week, month, etc. Here, and in general, you have a choice. You can either do the work, or you don’t have to. It’s your choice. In everyday dealings, you again have a choice. You can either do something or not.

When you are presented with things that seem questionable and it seems as though it may have an effect on your personal character, then you have to make the necessary decision for yourself. It is one thing to make sacrifices for various things, but when it comes to compromises, if it won’t be greatly beneficial to your well-being then it is probably best to avoid that situation altogether. There should never be a situation that you are in that will cause any detrimental problems that will bring about more stress. You want to make sure that you are as comfortable and content with everything that you do.

Outside of a job, you also want to make sure that you make the best decisions for your personal life as well. If you have relationships that you want to maintain, it is necessary to make compromises and sacrifice certain things to make the relationship work. Whether it means changing the way you speak in public and private or how you carry yourself. All of these things are strong factors that will either make or break you in life. If you truly want to be successful in life, you have to understand and know your value and your worth. There may actually be some things that are beneath you and that doesn’t mean that you’re better than anyone or anything so to say, it is just something that will not aid in your progression in life. You must be careful to watch out for these things because you could end up dealing with some unnecessary stress and who wants that? I mean, there is enough going on as it is when you have to juggle going to school, working and maintain life at home. Relationships are definitely challenging, from parent to child, man to woman, friend, sibling—they’re all tough. But, if you are aware of yourself and those around you, it makes things just a bit easier to get through.

Don’t ever accept anything that will not improve your life or your situation. We have to suffer through enough stress as it is. Everyday always presents a new challenge on top of the challenges that were already present. It is very easy to avoid a lot of bad things if you just stay focused on one thing at a time, keep things in perspective and if you have the knowledge it takes to keep everything together. As I progress forward in my journey of adulthood, I have been realizing that much of what I have experienced has contributed to my way of life. I have learned from those things that I may have faltered in and discovered ways of adjusting to new things. It may be difficult to deal with at first, but you will always in one way or another, figure out how to get things done effectively and efficiently.

If you have high standards, it hurts to say this sometimes, but you might have to lower them. You may hold yourself at too high of a level which may bring about more problems that could have been avoided. So, keep it in a realistic and logical perspective. Stay calm, cool and collected and all will be well.

Dorothy J. Hill is a senior from Chicago, IL. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. Dorothy is a Student Ambassador and currently serves as the Training Coordinator at Saint Xavier.

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