R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Recently, I wrote about the basics of God’s message being to ‘Just love one another, accept one another, respect one another and all of the other stuff will fall into place’ in “People That Profess Knowing God’s Will.” Afterwards, I began to think about the word ‘Respect’. Again, I turned to my favorite source; the Dictionary and these are some of my favorite definitions: 1) a feeling or attitude of admiration 2) thoughtfulness towards someone or something. 3) polite deference 4) courtesy or acknowledgment. 5) to show regard or consideration. 6) to refrain from intruding or interfering upon.  

Had you thought about respect being one or all of those things? It almost seems redundant to even talk about respect or its qualities when you have already embraced love, but anytime it brings awareness, it is not a waste of time.

The quality of respect for me has changed over the years. I was taught that respect was something you did out of the hierarchy of life; you respect your elders, your teachers, etc. I was taught to (conditioned to) ‘respect’ my elders; even though at times they did not deserve it. Even at an early age, I realized in those cases it was not an authentic way of being. So, growing up the ball buster that I was, I adopted the decision to respect authentically when it was deserved. But now I realize that it was just the mind deciding in the moment whether or not I (the mind) thought it was deserved. I also realize now that was an immature way of being with life. I realize now that the respect that I give to someone has more to do with me and not the object of my respect.

Respect is a state of being that happens naturally, and it also is a state of mind. Yes, sometimes it is a choice to respect. Sometimes, it is even a response to a situation where the mind would rather fight. To choose to give someone respect simply means that you are respecting yourself; that you realize that you are more than the mind, and you are using the mind to refrain from reacting from the ego’s perspective.

I also realize that in a perfect world, respect would be something that is mutual (equally given), but that is not always the case. So let’s say that you are in a situation where you are not being respected; do you hold back your respect because it is not mutually given? This can be a formula for the beginning of war (no matter how large or small). I am going to ask you to embrace respect even if all you can muster up is respect for yourself. To respect yourself means that you realize that you are more than the ego and that you are going to act accordingly.

Yes, in a perfect world, respect would be mutual, but in many cases it is not. However, it has to start somewhere, so begin with respecting yourself and watch and see that you will respond differently to a situation where respect has been embraced!

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