Dignity
/ˈdignitē/ noun

1. The moment you realize that the person or situation you cared for and invested in now has nothing emotionally or spiritually to offer you, but a headache.

2. The moment you realize that life has greater plans for you that don’t involve crying at night, constant anxiety, chronically unmet needs, living to please others, or a mental playlist of sad songs for cutters.

3. The moment you stop comparing yourself to others because it undermines your worth, education, and the wisdom passed to you by family and friends.

4. The moment you decide to live your dreams, not because of what it will prove or get you, but because that is all you really want to do in life. People’s opinions don’t matter.  You finally realize that you will not disappoint or ruin the lives of everyone you love if you decide to do what makes you happy.

5. The moment you realize that no one is your enemy, except yourself.

6.  The moment you realize that you are responsible for your own happiness, and that your happiness is not the responsibility of any other person or circumstance.  Every other person in your world, even the people closest to you, are responsible for their own happiness, too.  The happiness of others is not your responsibility.

7. The moment you realize that you can have everything you want in life. However, it takes timing, the right heart, the right actions, the right passion and a willingness to risk it all.  It takes discipline, self control and determination.  If happiness is not yours, it is because you really didn’t want it or need it.   If happiness is not yours, then somewhere along the line you made a conscious choice to settle for mediocrity.  You will never know what you could have had or could have been because you put your energy into fear rather than faith.  You have choices.

8. The moment you realize the ghosts of all wise people who have come before you don't want you mucking up your life with situations or people that behave anything less than honorable toward you.  You deserve to be honored, adored, and cherished, not taken for granted, controlled, and hidden.

9. The moment you realize that happiness will never be about another person.  Even the most ideal partner is only a helpmate towards achieving your life mission.  The best partnerships share equally in love, tenderness, and life coaching.  Poor partnerships are imbalanced and one-sided in these things.

10. The moment you believe that love is not about losing, winning or luck. It is about choosing to be a person who loves generously.  It is about having the courage to change yourself and your life so that you can love with complete abandon.  This involves loving yourself and loving others.  It is about learning to let love grow from painful situations.

11.  The moment you begin to truly recognize the difference between real and false hope.  Good counterfeit money can only be recognized by an expert.  So it is with counterfeit hope.  Real hope will give you wings, even in impossible circumstances.  False hope is a dog and pony act, all smoke and mirrors, and puts on a great show.  But if you look behind the stage curtain, you see that the "set" is not real, and that world is full of "actors".  False hope will leave you broken, empty and in despair.  Put your roots in real hope, and don't settle for anything false.

12. The moment you realize that you are, and you always have been, a priceless treasure.  Only ignorant people mistreat something of infinite worth.

**This list was inspired by an article I read by Shannon Adler, but I have taken great liberties with her ideas and have made my own “Dignity List”**