The Practice of Least Tolerance is Self-Acceptance

We often hear the echo of "tolerance" which is synonymous with accepting or appreciating other people's differences, both in non-physical aspects such as religion, point of view and physical aspects such as appearance. 

The medcom.id site describes a survey that Indonesian students have a tolerance percentage of 70%, a fairly high number, isn't it? 

This is indeed normal, considering we all have the status of social beings, where tolerance between individuals plays an important role in bringing a feeling of security and peace. 

Besides that, humans are still creatures created by God with various uniqueness, the question is, have we respected ourselves with all the uniqueness and characteristics of each?

Self-acceptance is still low

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Self-acceptance or a cool term called "Self-Acceptance" is an individual's condition when he has appreciated or felt happy for everything that God has given him. In reality, Self-Acceptance has not been fully implemented, especially by today's young people. 

This can be seen from the proliferation of a new term called "Insecure". 

The definition of insecure refers to a situation when humans feel unworthy, do not accept the uniqueness or differences in themselves. In short, this condition is called low self-esteem.

Causative factor

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Most of the causes of feeling insecure, may come from external factors. Moreover, people now live in an era, where the presence of social media or social media is very crucial or affects all human activities. Social media was originally created to facilitate communication between individuals. 

However, over time, the platform is often used as a place to show off the achievement of wealth, position, and appearance. Do not rule out, seeing this triggers a person to feel that he is lacking and imperfect. This is a sad phenomenon, where the standard of living of others is used as the main benchmark for assessing one's own identity. 

Whereas every human being in this world, has different characteristics and way of life. In small things, we are all born at different times, places and situations, so why expect the same start and finish line?

Plus the presence of the stigma of "Good looking is everything", an obligation to be beautiful or handsome if you want to be appreciated. Society seems to prioritize people who have a beautiful appearance. For example, in the requirements when applying for a job, some vacancies require candidates to be "good looking". 

Indirectly, this is a form of discrimination against job seekers, and violates the Human Rights Act and ILO Convention No. 111 which was approved at the International Labor Conference on June 25, 1958.

Negative Stigma Affects Mental Health

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Excessive feelings of insecurity and stigma for "good looking" have a negative impact on mental health (Mental illness). In a study "Low Self-Esteem and It's Association With Anxiety, Depression and Suicidal Ideation in Vietnamese Secondary School (2019)" explained that for several years there was a strong correlation between feelings of insecurity (low self-esteem) and mental health. 

Mental health is referred to as overthinking, this condition occurs when an individual thinks too much even about things that have not happened, one of which comes a thought about his own shortcomings. Research conducted by Michigan University As many as 73% of adults aged 25-35 experience overthinking. 

Then there is anxiety, in the form of excessive worry, in this case a person with a low self-acceptance will feel worried about his life and future, seeing his life as ordinary and not as great as other people's achievements or appearances. other.

 These two conditions can trigger depression, a phase where a person loses meaning and purpose in life. This situation if left unchecked, can cause a person to think about committing suicide, and the reality is that suicide cases are no stranger to encounter. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports, at least more than 700,000 per year die from suicide.

Cultivating Tolerance In Yourself.

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I remember reading a quote from a  Communication Book by Deddy Mulyana, he said "Humans are not machines, if they are damaged they can be replaced by other machines, every human being is a unique creature that cannot be replaced by another human being"It is wiseful if we do implement tolerance and respect for each other, but learning to manifest an attitude of tolerance in the smallest scope, for example towards ourselves, seems also something that is beneficial. 

Self-acceptance can be started through awareness of other potentials or strengths that we have, regardless of shortcomings. Because, every human being must have something special and unique. 

If self-acceptance has emerged, then our focus is not on the standard of quality of life owned by others but rather, focusing on developing self-potential (self-development).

Not a few of those who have started to accept and appreciate their own differences or shortcomings have been successful, including: 

Winnie Harlow, a model with vitiligo who managed to become a fashion model and even a public spokesperson about vitiligo, there is also Irma Suyanti, a disabled person but managed to become a health entrepreneur, and Oprah Winfrey reporter with black hair and curly hair is successful with fantastic wealth, in addition to her past being a sexual victim. 

They are all some of the hundreds of souls who are aware that insecurity only applies to those who still make their standard of living quality or beauty of appearance limit themselves to develop.

BECAUSE YOU ARE PRICELESS CREATURE :)

Humans are not machines, if they are damaged they can be replaced by other machines, every human being is a unique creature that cannot be replaced by another human being" - Deddy Mulyana

Writer: shinta ayu aini, communication student/UIN Walisongo Semarang