While surfing fb I often come across posts or comments stating respect must be earned. This has often struck an ‘off’ note with me and has got me thinking. Now I feel I would just like to jot a note down about it.
To me, if respect must be earned, it means no one has it for others initially. This causes huge issues in society! Imagine waiting to get to know a paramedic before being able to respect them? A teacher? It totally undermines their ability to do their job. It seems, to me at least, to show an underlying negativity – a negative fuelled by fear.
NO. Respect should be given – without reserve, totally and fully, to everyone!
No need to earn it, no need to wait. Given freely and happily. A deeper level may be earned through deeds, words, achievements etc, but that is the extent of the ‘earned’ that I can give a nod to. It deepens with time, but needs to be nurtured, reflected upon, and appreciated. Both in ourselves and in others. Both by being thoughtful of our actions and how they affect others and in our appreciation of others and their actions. A two-way street!
This way, there is a level of respect throughout our society that leads to security, a more positive attitude and happiness.
Obviously, we can lose respect for people, but with more understanding and communication, this can be kept to a minimum. This means working on ourselves first and foremost: how do we gain more respect? How do we nurture respect given to us by others? Would the words we say, the deeds we do, the actions and achievements we make cause us to respect ourselves?
Thoughts I will leave with you!
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