The tendency to become what others treat us as is not confined to outside influences. We also become, to some degree, what we treat ourselves as and surround ourselves with.
Hence I resolve to treat myself as the person I would like to be. To honour my aspirations and attributes as well as to hold myself to a high standard. I recognize that I cannot become more noble by merely thinking about it – I must treat myself with the same respect I grant to others.
I do not yet know all of the ramifications of this. But I have some ideas:
Dress is not just for others to see. Dress reminds me of who I am and want to be. I resolve not to relegate what I wear to unimportance.
I must seek to surround myself with art of all media which encourages me in my journey.
I must respect my body by keeping it healthy and rested. I must cultivate refined manners as a constant reminder of who I want myself to be.
All in all, I must strive to make the man I see in the mirror challenge me toward more noble behaviour, rather than a blow to my determination.
Continued here…
The very interesting thing about this particular part of your post is that, well, my church has been teaching exactly what you just summarized for about the past three or four years. Now I find that quite astonishing.