Dignity

I leave with you a beautiful passage by John O' Donohue, from his book: Eternal Echoes.

May we all walk with dignity today! (grinning)

Dignity of  Presence

There is a great beauty in dignity; it is a special quality of presence . It is lovely to behold people who inhabit their own dignity. The human body is its own language. Every gesture you make speaks about who you are. The way you hold yourself, how you walk, sit, speak and touch things tells of your quality  of soul. Some people have a clear dignity of carriage and composure. You sense their self respect and the ease with which they are at home in their own presence.

There is no forcing of presence; they do not drive themselves outwards to impress or ingratiate themselves. Other people squander their dignity completely. They live a half mile out side themselves, their personalities sprung in search of notice and affirmation. Your presence inevitably reveal what you think of yourself. If you do not hold yourself in esteem, it is unlikely that others will respect you either.

When you learn to embrace yourself with a sense of appreciation and affection, you begin to glimpse the goodness and light that is in you, and gradually you will realize that you are worthy of respect from yourself.

When you recognize your limits, but still embrace your life with affection and graciousness, the sense of inner dignity begins to grow.

You become freer and less dependent on the affirmation of outer voices and less troubled by the negativity of others. Now you know that no one has the right to tarnish the image you have of yourself.

There is such a feeling of shame when you let yourself down, when you have acted beneath your dignity.

There is something demeaning about having done something that is “infra dignitatem.” You would give anything to return to the point ten minutes before the fervent and act differently.

Having dignity of presence is not to be equated with being nice, always good, or behaving conventionally.

You can be as free as the wind in your views, beliefs and actions; you could be angry and awkward at times and still hold your dignity.

Neither is dignity equivalent to stiffness or arrogant aloofness of personality. Dignity allows an immense pliability  and diversity of presence, but still holds the sense of worthiness and the honor of a larger horizon of grace and graciousness.

Even in compromising and demeaning situations, you can still hold your sense of dignity. At such times your sense of dignity will keep a space of tranquility about you.