Importance of Respect

Why respect is so important in today’s society and what exactly is respect? Respect is a combination of appreciation, admiration as well as recognition of a person being worth something, or having earned a position because of their achievements. It could feel at times vague to some people, but most people understand and act with respect. In our modern world respect is sometimes confused with fear. For instance, Gangs, they kill and they fight to earn respect from others but what they actually receive is fear. Domestic abusers might also beat their significant other and demand respect and once again what they receive is fear not respect. In these situations it could become a cycle, reason being; as fear of a person builds inside of someone they lose respect for them as a human being. As regard and respect go down the need of the abuser to force respect gradually goes up, leading to more abuse than ever before. We also can confuse the broad feeling of being in love with respect. When we meet this amazing person and we set them up on a pedestal and they seem to be perfect through our foggy vision of physical reactions. We do not really see who that person is but instead our ideas of what we want to see. This can be especially challenging because it is so easy to confuse the pedestal of perfection for respect. True respect is seeing someone’s, flaws and mistakes, and still feeling appreciation of their unique talents, gifts, insights and simply appreciating the person for being who they are. It is not expecting perfection nor is it beating someone into submission. President Obama is to me a great example of a person who commands respect. Not by using his position but simply by his thoughtfulness, intelligence and presence, unlike past politicians who appear to believe people should simply respect them because of their position and not who they are. Obama is a person I respect, not only because I am a soldier but because he is just simply a respectable human being. I don’t have to like everything a person does or agree with them to respect them. On the other hand, I can really care for someone and not respect them, it can work either way for anyone. Respect, like many things, begins within yourself. Before we can truly respect others you must like and respect yourselves. If we feel we are worthless, dumb, a terrible employee, too this or too that, we will often treat ourselves badly. We will beat ourselves up in our own mind. Then when we meet another person we usually fall in to one of two categories; the â€Å"I am not worthy† as we put our significant other on a pedestal or the â€Å"there must be something wrong with this person if they like me. † At first when we are in the beginning stages of the relationship, we are on cloud nine, all is right in the world and nothing else matters. The beginning stage can last a while and when we are in it we do not think about respect, we are consumed by passion. Over time, the beginning stage fades and if you do not respect or like yourself, the questioning and insecurity start to damage the relationship. When we love and respect ourselves we treat others with respect and we receive the same amount of respect in return. When you really take a moment to think about treating other individuals with respect, it can solve so many issues. When we respect another person, we can begin to trust them to handle the truth in the long run so you should always be honest, trust their judgment in all aspects of life and you should and will demand that other people treat you with the same amount of respect in which you have treated that person or people with. You should always let other people such as, your boss or a fellow coworker know when you are running late and why you are running late, have made a mistake or think that you may have made a mistake , violated an agreement or just need time to be alone and collect your thoughts. When you are showing your respect to someone you should always listen to what they have to say and don’t blame them for your issues, or doubt their opinion on something you have asked for their opinion on. So many relationship, co-worker, and leadership challenges would be so much easier to deal with if you would just take a moment to think about the respect we have for other people and demonstrate that in our actions. This respect goes beyond the workplace, primary relationships, and acquaintances. It extends to the manner in which you’re going to be treated, depending on how you’re treating other people. Respecting time that someone has have set aside for you and giving that other person room for them to complete their tasks. If you respect every person you’re involved with, whether it be at your workplace, home, or just simply socializing at an event. That person will treat you with the same amount of respect, as you have treated them with. The same rules apply when you are at your place of work, communication, honesty and consideration are given out of respect and co-workers relationships can flow a whole lot more smoothly. In my experience when my superior in my workplace is speaking with me, and that person treats me with respect and I treat that person with respect then things work a whole lot more smoothly and everyone is happy. When any living person ignores agreements, pushes boundaries and just in general acts with disrespect towards another person, it is hard and challenging to all involved. When you withhold the truth, Manipulate, or Lie, you might as well be saying I don’t respect that person whether they are in a position of leadership or otherwise. They might think and feel that you can’t handle the truth. That person might also think you do not trust them to get their tasks accomplished and that you don’t trust that they will stand by you through the challenges in any given situation. The challenge with this is that when you don’t live up to the expectations you have promised to abide by, you could become angry and blame that other individual for not being what you might have thought they were. Looking at relationships between co-workers I have witnessed, including my own, the most successful were undeniably people who held each other with great respect. This is as true of business partnerships as well as personal relationships and even parents with their child or children. This is not to say they don’t fight or face challenges in relationships but rather these relationships have a grounded base of respect to help get through the challenges that they might encounter together. When you come from a place of respect, for instance, The United States Military, you do not give stipulations or make demands to be set into stone, you’re going to negotiate with consideration for your partner, co-workers and your own needs and feelings. To respect someone is also to respect their ideas, intelligence, individuality, goals as well as their personal preferences and who they are inside, as a person Life is wonderful but respect is the glue that can allow all different kinds of relationships to grow stronger, more trusting and more confident. Respect also allows everyone to retrieve companionship, understanding and support to make it through the challenges of life. Respect is crucial to lasting relationships, whether it be a work relationship or a personal relationship and also it is crucial to good partnerships, to good business and to build a better community and economy.