In your spiritual practice, bite off what you can chew.  Begin with what you can handle.
If you bite a bigger piece, then you won't even have that bite. You'll have a total mess everywhere
Biting what you can chew is a skillful means of handling a situation and that means knowing where to draw the line.

Admire and respect people, but don't make yourself a doormat.
That's where you're losing self-respect.

Every day-every minute- we are getting older. If you don't know what you need to do your are cheating yourself.
Being too busy with deadlines is cheating yourself. Our spiritual needs are not included in our to-do list.
This is the problem

There is no instant Buddha.
Instant coffee is not so great.

Negative emotions effortlessly pop up in our hearts and minds like toasts in a toaster.
You can change it-make it less powerfull. Put a little bit of the jam of compassion on that toast. Put a little bit of the butter of love on it.
That will make it presentable, make it sweet, not sour, for others and yourself.

Buddhism 2.0: Decrease your negativity, increase your positivity, and watch your mind!

What does meditation mean? Watching your mind.
Watching your mind means finding out whether your thoughts,idea's, motivations,etc. are faulty or correct.
If faulty, correct them. If proper, rejoice!

The external world is a reflection of the inhabitants's internal world.