R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Truth:

One of the best things in the world is to watch someone stand up for themselves.

Be it making some noise so that your pushy Aunt Doris quits interrupting and running over the top of you during family dinners or shakily standing up to the evil actions of bad people and screaming, “I won’t be treated this way!” It’s a grand thing to stand up for YOU.

Sometimes it is easier to help the people we love to demand to be treated with respect than it is for us to expect the same thing out of ourselves.

It can be scary. By standing up for yourself in the face of evil (and I’m talking bad things here, not your mother asking you to do the dishes and her demands cutting into your Facebook time), you are making a change. You are telling yourself that you deserve just like anyone else to be cherished.

There will be people that you will encounter along your walk through life whose actions towards you will be so despicable that it shocks you to your very core. You might be so surprised by their actions that you tell yourself, “I’m probably overreacting. They probably didn’t really mean for that to happen.” If you allow that lie to take root inside your mind, you will only cause yourself more harm and pain in the long run.

Stand up for yourself and for anyone else that has been at the mercy of evil actions and stop the cycle. Tell yourself that you are loved, dearly. You know that you are loved. I am rooting for you 100%, I am your biggest cheerleader. Take strength from knowing that you are not the only one and you don’t deserve to be mistreated. The first time you say with your words or your actions, “I am worth more. I won’t stand to be talked to or treated this way,” can be absolutely terrifying! But it is SO worth it. YOU are so worth it!

For my younger female readers here, a good rule of thumb is to question, would my father do that to me? Would my dad talk that way to my mother? Or another father figure in your life that treats you like a daughter and hold the offender up to your loved one’s example. If they are acting in a way towards you that is anything less than how your daddy or your Prince Charming would treat you don’t worry, you’re not overreacting! Respect and love yourself darling girl, and go get some help. And never forget that YOU did nothing wrong, it’s all on their head.

 You, dear Buckaroo Barbie, are BEAUTIFUL and STRONG and no matter what has happened to you in your life, you DESERVE as all human beings do, to be treated with love and honor. Love and honor yourself and start by demanding that other people treat you with love and honor as well.

Truth:

I got the privilege the other day to watch a Buckaroo Barbie do this very thing. It was hard, it was scary at first but change always sets us humans off kilter. She was not being treated with respect, in fact she was being down right MISTREATED and she had the courage to say, “This is not OK. I will not be treated this way.” And I gotta tell you Dolls; it was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.

Never forget that you are priceless.

xo xo Liz