Forrest Gump's mother told him that now famous line, that "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get."
That's how many of us look at life. We lament to our closest friends over a drink that our boss is a jerk, and our spouse doesn't appreciate the things we do.
The truth is, we have much more power over our lives than we realize. We are causing people to treat us a certain way, without even realizing it. When you respect yourself, you lay the groundwork for getting respect from other people.
"If the people in your life treat you in an undesirable way, you're going to want to figure out what you are doing to reinforce, elicit or allow that treatment," wrote Dr. Phillip McGraw in his book, Life Strategies. "If you're involved in a relationship in which someone is consistently abusive, exploitive, or insensitive toward you, find out what you're doing to encourage that behavior, so that you can realign the relationship in a more healthy direction."
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