The 3 Rs

Today for some reason I woke up at 5 with the three R´s in my head. The Dalai Lama once stated the importance of the 3 R´s for our lives. They are Respect for yourself, Respect for others and full Responsibility for your actions. At first, I just memorized the first 2 and for some strange reason I always have trouble in remembering the 3rd... which is kind of my weakness. I love to take responsibility for my actions if they are nice, worthwhile... but if they are having bad or sad consequences I would rather not. The 3 R´s really are the blueprint that I wish I could follow for my life. I know they lead to happiness which according to the Dalai Lama is what everybody strives for and deserves to obtain. But very often I realize that my actions are not perfect and as such I start becoming very critical of myself and do not fulfill the first R anymore.... it is a vicious circle and I am sure that a lot of perfectionists out there are trapped in it as well.
I taught my kids the 3 R´s and they thought it was easy. One asked why they were important. I answered that if we want to be happy that would be much harder if we didnt respect ourselves fully. He asked me why one wouldnt respect him/herself and I smiled. It is nice to see that children naturally do the right thing. They don´t dislike themselves if they have committed a mistake. It is only after the parents tell them that "they shouldn't have done that " that they start altering that thought. So for tomorrow I want to be thoughtful not to say "you shouldn't" too often. Not to others, and not to myself either.
Have a good evening everybody and talk to you tomorrow