My Life Motto...

Well, here I am again with another epiphany. If you have talked to me much in the last two weeks you will know that I have a new life motto...

"Live your life so that you can look back and know you lived it with dignity." - me

Since my motto isn't as elegant as some quotes I found on dignity, I will show you some of my favorites.

"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence."
Frederick Douglas

"Human rights rest on human dignity. The dignity of man is an ideal worth fighting for and worth dying for. "
Robert Maynard

"Dignity consists not in possessing honors, but in the consciousness that we deserve them."
Aristotle

"Where is there dignity unless there is honesty?"
Cicero

"Whatever games are played with us, we must play no games with ourselves."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

I think these quotes pretty much sum up how I feel about my life.

Recently, I took this communications seminar that was given by Val Baldwin and we took this quiz on how we respond to conflict (either silence or violence). My scores were a little out of the ordinary because I was equally silent and violent. My interpretation is...I tend to be more violent in "home life" conflict and silent in work conflict, but can be silent for home as well. Anyways, I have really wanted to work on my communication skills so I don't resort to silence OR violence when a conflict does arise.

If you know me well you know that I don't have the best track record for expressing my true feelings about situations...I tend to not trust people and the potential of a bad reaction hinders the possibility of actually telling someone how I really feel. After re-reading that I just thought "Wow, basically you spent the last 22 years lying to people to either spare their feelings or your own."

I'm lame, but guess what, I've had a chance to redeem myself and work the next 80 years (yes, I'm going to live to be over 100) to becoming a more effective communicator. I digress, I'm blabbing.

What it all comes down to...what really stuck with me from the seminar was...do not EVER use personal attacking. It is common and I know I've done it before, but no more. The recent fiasco that has plagued my existence has helped me; I have kept my dignity. I have not once personally attacked this person though she has chose to do so to me. I have kept all defenses to the situation at hand. I have not rehashed or brought in unnecessary points to be used against her.

I feel amazing about that fact. end of story.