This past weekend I attended a seminar with my husband and had the delightful experience of listening to a talk given by a brilliant and witty British Chiropractor and researcher. She spoke about the different badges and metals she was wearing on her lapel as well as those she wears internally. She quipped that one of the badges she wears on the inside declares, “Do no harm and take no shit!” Listening to her story, it is clear she lives and will die by this sword. Such a simple yet lofty aspiration for us all.
Let’s dissect the first part of this battle cry, “Do no harm.” What does it really mean to do no harm? To avoid inflicting harm on others, it requires us to embody the qualities of kindness, acceptance, empathy, integrity, and responsibility. We have to desire and intend to help (rather than hurt) others (kindness), accept others’ inherent differences, be able to put ourselves in another’s shoes to understand how our actions may impact them (empathy), do the right thing even when no one is watching (integrity), and take responsibility when our intentions and/or actions might fall short. Although often forgotten or overlooked completely, “Do no harm” must also extend to how we treat ourselves, requiring the same qualities, only self-directed. The sum of these qualities amounts to our degree of self-love or self-compassion.
In actuality, the flip side of this coin is “Take no shit.” Simple and direct, but what does it really mean? Being unwilling to take any shit requires us to have self-awareness, self-respect, and self-agency. We need to understand who we are, what we stand for, and what we require to be the best version of ourselves (self-awareness), have the self-respect and self-worth to know unequivocally that we are allowed to have needs, standards, and boundaries, and ensure our actions are aligned with these values (self-agency)… as the road to hell is often paved with good intentions.
Although the two parts of this battle cry might seem contradictory, the beautiful reality is we can “do no harm” and “take no shit” at the very same time. In fact, they always work best together, creating an amazingly full and complete you.
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