Respect

Monday, December 21, 2009.....

Some people believe respect is earned, others believe it's earned by one's status, age or title within a company. I believe respect is associated with all these scenarios and one more: acceptance.

I have many friends from various walks of life with various beliefs. Some I've known for 30 + years, some under 5, some conservative and others very liberal. Although many differ from me, they all have one thing in common -- my acceptance.

I think in a friendship one has to respect a person by accepting who they are; how they live their life, basically, just appreciate who they are and how they compliment your personality. In friendship, acceptance of a person means you respect who they and how they live their life.

So why is it that people can't accept others? Why try to correct or change them to fit your standards? If it bothers you, end the friendship, but don't make the person feel horrible through your words or actions that really do nothing more than have the person on the receiving end feel hurt, unworthy, and basically crappy.

Someone was recently disrespectful in my home. Through their mocking words and an action they thought I wouldn't notice, but did, they hurt me. To others it may have seemed trivial, but to me, it wasn't.

It showed me that this person really doesn't accept me and ultimately has little respect for me. Maybe they didn't realize this, but it did.