You've got to stand up for yourself...

Too many times I have backed down from what seems to be a situation where I am insisting on being treated with respect and dignity. I have backed down because I decided the "fight" wasn't worth fighting. The truth of the matter is that it's not even a fight. Standing up for yourself in order to be treated with respect and dignity is a basic human right. Everyone has the right to be treated with respect and everyone has the right to dignity. So I have decided to follow my own advice I often discuss with clients: people will rebel against change, so you must not base your empowerment on how others react to it because they are not going to like change. They want you to be the person they are used to interacting with. You must stand up for your right to respect and dignity knowing full well that you will encounter opposition. You will be discounted and you may even be hated. But you must not back away from your basic human rights. Afterall, if nothing changes, nothing changes.

Lesson: Same behavior=same results. Different behavior=different results. And there, my friends, is one of the perks of being a counselor. :)