I Lost My Respect
There are so many frustrating things in life, but nothing frustrates me more than this…
And before you say it, no, this is not another blog post about people and how they get on my nerves. Although I could talk about that subject all day long, this post is about something way deeper: respect.
First of all, what is respect?
Is it the feeling we get when we admire someone? Is it realizing that someone’s been there for us for a long time? Or does it have to do with ourselves, like how we can have and lose self-respect depending on what we do?
The truth is, respect is way more than all those things combined. Respect is a lifestyle.
Let me explain.
Respect is not about individual instances, or individual people, or even relationships. Respect is about how you carry yourself, your attitude toward life and how well you interact with the world around you.
Respecting others, sure, but embracing respect as a lifestyle — damn, that’s a whole other level.
When you embrace respect as a lifestyle, you see things for what they actually are: amazing creations there for fun and for the taking. It’s there for you, so why not feel amazing about it?
Respect as a lifestyle means that you respect yourself, your accomplishments, your thoughts, your feelings, your part — all of it coincides in one big ball on integrity (self-integrity?)
Respect as a lifestyle means seeing people as part of a whole, where each and every one of the people you meet matters to you in some way — like they were all part of a big dance that make up the story of your life.
Respect as a lifestyle means understanding our world and where we fit within it. It means seeing the world for what it truly is and how everything, the trees, the birds, the animals, the sky… all fit in this one big mess that we call the universe.
I for one embrace this respect lifestyle, and although it seems great, I won’t lie to you and say that it’s always easy…
Sometimes things get in the way, and it can be easy to lose touch with what this lifestyle is all about.
All I know is that this is something to strive for continuously every day, and if you don’t agree, well… I respect you for it anyway.
