A seven letter word, yet powerful in its own right. Aretha Franklin said it so well in the song, Respect. There are many levels and kinds of respect. You may respect someone for a variety of different reasons and this could be considered esteem or admiration. A butcher may have respect for their knives while a mountain climber for the elements. Take for instance having respect for someone’s rights or that of a judge or court. This may be considered deference, but it is nonetheless another form of respect.

Unfortunately, there are too many that feel that respect is a right. It isn’t – it’s something that is earned. It’s intangible, but at the same time, very real! Before you can show respect for others, you must first have respect of yourself. Conversely, for others to show you respect, you must respect others as well.

We take too much for granted in our daily lives and this includes the people around us. I believe that a strong ingredient of respect is that of common courtesy. Being courteous to others is not only respectful to others, but it directly reflects on you as a person. It means putting yourself in the other persons shoes instead of thinking of yourself first.

This reminds me of the “ME” generation of the 80’s where it was all about me, me, me!! Personally, I could never understand that concept, yet I know of others, that still to this day, feel that it is all about ‘Me!’ Unfortunately, I always found this somewhat distasteful. I may be wrong, but as much as I can respect someone’s viewpoint, I also find the ‘me’ thing as a lack of respect of others. I don’t see how the two can co-exist.

I can go on and on with this topic, but it all comes down to that we have to learn and in some cases relearn what respect is. I’m not saying to always put yourself in the backseat, so to speak. You have to take care of yourself, but not at someone else’s expense. How can someone respect themselves while doing so?

Maybe I’m crazy…OK, let me rephrase that…I know I’m crazy and others with attest to this, but I also firmly believe that if you give common courtesy and respect you will get back an abundance of it. It is not just a concept, but a way of life. Imagine what a better place this would be if we could all understand those two simple concepts and put them into actions. Some may say I’m being a Pollyanna, but maybe if we all just started with someone…who knows how large this could grow!

As always…Marc It Sold!…and have a great day!!