"Crappy Meals or Happy Meals" in Life Part One

The Sacred Scriptures write of an event that happened during the time Jesus roamed on earth. The leaders of the Jewish sect, the Pharisees, had gotten word Jesus had just "manhandled" the other sect of Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, the Sadducees, in their attempt to trap Jesus in His own words. The had tried to do this through interpretation of a Scripture passage but it ended up backfiring on them.
 So, the Pharisees came up with an idea of their own. They gathered their forces together including one of their best religious lawyers to pose a question to Jesus in hopes they might stifle Him. This Pharisee lawyer approached Jesus along with some other Pharisee leaders and asked Him this question: "Teacher, which commandments in the Scripture are of greater value than others? Don't You find some commandments carrying more of a purpose in life regards of obedience to God while others are of lesser value simply stating what items or areas of life we simply need to avoid?" Jesus then answered this question: " Actually there are two commandments that need our attention. The first being is to love the Lord your God with all your soul including your passions, purpose, and prayers given in this life, even our learning abilities and increasing in knowledge is based on this command. This command is by far the most important command of all the commands to follow. Yet, there is a second command that is equally demanding and must be included as part of the first. This command requires us to love one another in the same way we love ourselves. If you follow these two commands, the rest of all the commands given to us will be followed including the very words of the prophets themselves." (Matthew 22: 36-39)
 {Note: The Pharisees were careful students of the Law, some even obeying the Law to the point of death for the sake of the heritage of Israel. Along with the Scriptural law of the written Torah as quoted by Jesus here in this passage from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, the Pharisees had numerous customs and by-laws as a guide to obeying these commands in the written Torah through expanded editions referred to as the "oral" Torah in which their  613 additional laws. Jesus did not recognize these 613 additional laws because He was fully aware simple obedience to a law cannot constitute a real relationship with God and the 613 additional applications caused people to move farther away from God rather than closer to Him, the oral Torah being more self-righteous vs. being godly. The God to man friendship Jesus offers is simply more of a personal matter that goes beyond the "letter of the law".}

 So, with this thought in mind, I conclude if we do not love ourselves, then is it even possible to have the capabilities to love one another or even truly love God? This where I begin....   

 Psychology has noted if we are to like ourselves we first have to have a self respect. Self respect in its truest form is not based on extraordinary physical attractiveness or personal accomplishments, rather it is found in having an extraordinary character. Various surveys seem to indicate when people are asked what attracts one to another, it is overwhelming clear it is in the way people treat each other. This type of behavior encourages trust for the other person and in so doing encourages a recipient to like themselves.
 Self respect is a key variable to having a healthy self esteem or a "love for ourselves" as stated in the Scriptures. Psychology indicates the fastest path to a healthy self esteem is based on how we treat those around us which in turn is often an indicator on how well we accept our own thoughts and behaviors with an enjoyment of who we are. Each one of us have negative qualities in our personal development in life yet depending on our outlook will reflect on how we treat others.

 The way I see it we are on this earth for an undetermined period of time. Some things in life are important while other things are not. The important things in life give us purpose, value, and meaning including a joy for life itself, both within ourselves and for others. The unimportant stuff has only one result, it simply kills time through our journey in life.
 Even age does not always have the answer to self acceptance. I hear of people in their late 50's still not sure of what their purpose in life is. For some the passion of life is still in an embryonic stage yet with a determination to give birth, while others contemplate the thought but are easily distracted by "2 eggs, 2 pieces of bacon, and a slice of toast", and all is forgotten.

 I would like to ask 7 questions about life and see if you agree. That will require a part 2.