First Universal Truth: Revere The Self

To Revere the Self is to acknowledge the profound responsibility of existence. It is not an indulgence. It is a necessity. Without care for our own well-being, we become fractured, unable to contribute meaningfully to the world around us.

The phrase “you cannot pour from an empty cup” is often said, yet many fail to understand its depth. Self-care is not merely about recovery. It is about maintenance, ensuring that we do not find ourselves in a state of depletion before we act. The body, the mind, and the soul demand attention, and neglecting them leads to a hollow existence where service to others is tainted by resentment or exhaustion.

True reverence of the self requires accountability. It demands recognition of all that makes us who we are; the tools we utilize to create the Self. This includes our skills and abilities as well as our disorders and dysfunctions. The moment we acknowledge our shortcomings, we claim responsibility for them. While external forces impact who we are, the power to change belongs to us alone.

Viktor Frankl wrote, “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” This is a core anchor of self-reverence. We must neither accept our flaws as immutable nor expect the world to mold itself around them. To honor the self is to embrace growth, even when it is slow, and especially when it is painful.

Self-reverence does not exist in isolation. A life spent only in self-exploration, without connection to others, becomes barren. The self is a single piece of a vast mosaic. To polish one’s own tile without considering the whole would be a disservice to the beauty of what is being created. You are able to retain your radiance as community does not demand sacrifice. It asks for integration.

In the Tao Te Ching, Laozi speaks of the paradox of identity, that to find ourselves, we must lose ourselves in the harmony of the world. There is joy in this. The Self, when strengthened, can offer itself freely, knowing that it is not diminished by giving.

The struggle comes with balance.

Some believe that to honor the self means to place their needs above all else, but this is not reverence. It is self-absorption.

Others believe that to be of service, they must discard the self entirely, but this is not reverence either. It is martyrdom.

The middle path is where wisdom lies. It is the understanding that the self must be nurtured so that it may nurture in turn. It is the recognition that we are responsible for our own healing, yet we do not heal in isolation. Carl Jung spoke of individuation, the process by which we become whole. He did not mean separation from the world. He meant fortification, becoming the truest version of oneself while still existing within a community.

To revere the self is to accept the paradox of being. It is the recognition that strength and vulnerability coexist. It is the understanding that self-care and communal care are not opposites, but interwoven. The person who honors themselves fully does not demand from others what they refuse to give themselves. They do not shrink when called upon, nor do they seek to control when the world does not bend to them.

They walk forward, knowing that their place in the greater mosaic is not a burden, but a gift.