Know the 5 pillars of the personal dignity that you deserve

People have a price, an indisputable value called personal dignity. It is an unconditional dimension that reminds us every day that no one can or should use us. We are free, valuable beings, responsible for ourselves and deserving of adequate respect.

Personal dignity is, without a doubt, one of the most interesting and neglected concepts within the field of personal growth. Somehow, many of us have forgotten that this dimension does not depend on external recognition. No one has to give us a certain value so that we ourselves feel worthy of gifts.

What is personal dignity

As Íñigo de Miguel states in his article Considerations on the concept of human dignity, “Currently, most authors consider that the essential dignity of man is based on three facts: their ability to make moral judgments, their freedom to decide about their actions and their intellectualitythat is, the possibility it has of generating abstract concepts.”

De Miguel explains that different studies suggest that the word dignity has its origin in Sanskrit, “specifically in the root dec, which would mean be convenient, conformable, adequate to something or someone“. Later, Latin added the suffix “-mus”, leaving the term “decmus”, which would derive from dignus. Thus, over the years in Spanish it became “dignified” and hence “dignity.”

Personal dignity is an inherent quality that comes “from the factory.” Just as Martin Luther King once said, it doesn’t matter what your job is, it doesn’t matter what color your skin is or how much money you have in your bank account. We are all worthy and we all have the ability to build a much better society based on the recognition of ourselves and others.

However, dignity and vulnerability always go hand in hand. Because this innate quality depends directly on our emotional balance and self-esteem. In fact, sometimes it is enough for someone to want us badly for us to not feel worthy of being loved. It is also enough for us to spend a period of time without a job to come to think that we are neither worthy nor useful to this society. We suggest you reflect on it with us.

What is not personal dignity

Understand from early on that we deserve the best, that We must be respected for what we are, have and characterizes us, it is not pride. Defending our identity, our freedom and our right to have our own voice, opinion and values ​​is not narcissism. The moment we understand all this, our personality is reinforced and we achieve adequate internal satisfaction.

However, we must admit, if there is a dimension of our psychological well-being that leaves the most consequences after having neglected it, forgotten it or left it in the hands of others, it is dignity. Hence we must always remember something very simple as well as illustrative: hope is not the last thing a person should lose; In reality, what we should never lose is personal dignity.

We lose personal dignity when…

Dignity is not keys that we put in our pockets and that from time to time we leave to others to keep for us. Nor is it a material possession. It is a non-transferable, unconditional value, unique and private to each one. It is not left, lost or sold: it always goes with you.

People lose our dignity when we allow ourselves to be systematically humiliated and boycotted. We lose our dignity suddenly when we stop loving ourselves.Dignity is lost when we become conformist and accept much less than we deserve.As curious as it may seem to us, we can also let this dimension escape when we go too far. That moment when we demand privileges and violate the sense of balance and equality with respect to our peers.

As we can see, not only the lack of personal security and self-love generates the loss of this root of our well-being. Sometimes, There are those who become unworthy the moment they take the step towards abuse, towards lack of consideration and extreme selfishness..

How to learn to be people with stronger dignity

Dignity is perhaps a topic much more addressed by philosophy than by psychology. Kant, for example, defined a person with adequate personal dignity as someone with conscience, free will, and autonomy. However, in the most classic definitions of this dimension an essential aspect is neglected: Dignity is also expressed when we are able to make those around us feel respected, worthy and valued.

We are, therefore, faced with a personal value, but also with a proactive attitude. It makes no difference whether it comes from the “factory” as we pointed out at the beginning. We must be able to foster and create environments where dignity prevails, whether in our families, in our work environments and in society itself. Let’s now see what pillars support this valuable dimension.

The 5 pillars of personal dignity

To learn to be aware of our own dignity and develop it, introspection work is necessary. To do it properly, the following pillars of personal dignity can be taken into account:

The first aspect is to understand that we are owners of ourselves. We are our conductors, our personal gurus, our rudder and our compass. No one has the right to take us or drag us to oceans that are not ours, or to scenarios that bring us unhappiness. The second pillar is undoubtedly something as simple as it is sometimes complicated: give ourselves permission to achieve what we want. Many times we do not feel worthy of something better, something good and enriching. We limit ourselves to accepting what life has wanted to bring us as if we were supporting actors in the theater of our lives.Define your values. Aspects as basic as a strong identity, good self-esteem and solid values ​​make up the roots of our personal dignity, and those aspects that no one can or should ever violate.Self-reflection and meditation. Throughout the day, it is convenient that we have a moment for ourselves. It is our own space where we can make contact with our being to make an adequate diagnosis about how we feel. Dignity is “touched” in many different ways throughout each day, and it is necessary to identify those blows, those small wounds that need to be healed. Lastly, but not least, it is also vital that we are able to take care of the dignity of others. We pointed it out before, because Being worthy is also knowing how to recognize equals, whatever their condition, situation, origin, status or race.

Let us learn, therefore, to create more just societies, always starting with ourselves, with our personal dignity. We must not abandon it or take it away from others.

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