Eric Kim selfie. Uji, Kyoto.

How to respect yourself?
Well to start off, pay attention to your own health
Your mental and physical
Your visual and lyrical

What does that mean?
It means don’t quantify yourself
By the green (money) in your pockets
And open your heart to others; don’t lock it.

Happiness ain’t a box, you can’t unlock it
True joy is human flourishing; eudaimonia
You can be happy wherever you live, whether Romania or Estonia

People hating on you?
Rope a dope it like Jack Dempsey
And have faith in me, I’ll keep on rolling with ya

You get the picture?
Don’t let life break your foundation, even if life’s earthquakes are off the Richter.

—

To respect yourself
Have faith in you
Never ask anyone’s opinion of you
What do you care what they heard of you?
You should have knew, or known all the misconceptions of you
But the only important person to please is you.

Do you admire you? Do you like you? I’m sure you do. There’s nobody else who has been through the same shit as you.

So when the haters hate, tell them to just “shoo”— what works for you won’t work for them,
Not every single foot fits every single shoe.

So just stay true
To yourself
Who would have known
That you’re a king
And you reign your own throne?
You rule your own Rome

Don’t kill Remus like Romulus
Love your own brothers
You’re part of one another
He is you, and you is him.
When you win, so does he. Or she. Don’t think of “you” and “me” but “we”.

—

Anyways, I’m getting a little off-course.

To respect yourself, never let anyone talk down on you. If anyone tries to bully you, tell them to fuck off. You ain’t so tough, you wanna-be hot-shot.

To respect yourself, never doubt yourself. You’re capable of incredible things, so don’t just talk about your ideas. Do them in real life. Even though it’s hard to hustle, stay tied to your mast. You’re fucking top class.

And life is short. Don’t mope about; have a blast.

So what are you waiting for? Grab life by the horns, and make it yours.

BE STRONG,
ERIC