We've all heard the song. We know the words. We sing it at kareoke parties. But do we practice the concept? I know the song is about the respect between a man and a woman in a relationship, but it's pretty much the same meaning of "respect" that I'm getting at in this post. One definition of respect is "esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability". I find it funny that the word "esteem" (the regard in which one is held) is in there, for when we disrespect a person, for example, that person tends to have lower self-esteem (even if for that moment). I read an article today regarding the school bus monitor bullied by the kids on the bus. Now, I'm not going to get into the story as it is so emotion provoking to me, and it's only 6:30 in the am and I want to have a good day, but I do want to touch on the general behavior of those kids.
For those of you in my forty-something generation, remember back when we were kids and disrespected an elder (or any other person for that matter)? I sooooo remember the backhand I got! I remember the puffy bottom lips, the whacks across the butt, the screaming that came from my folks. Do you? You should, because that was the way respect was instilled in kids in those days. Parents didn't tolerate lack of respect from kids, toward them or anyone. PERIOD. There is a certain sense of parenting by guilt and child self-entitlement that has stripped away the common courtesy in today's generation of young-uns. Discipline is out the window. Defending a problem child (for fear of having to face parenting failures???) is the common place.
I'm not a parent and I won't get into parenting advice or what's right or wrong, but what I do know is that, generally speaking, kids are just rude as hell nowadays. It all boils down to one word....respect. The respect we give to others is directly related to the respect we give to ourselves. In turn, the respect we give to ourselves is directly related to the respect that we get, which goes back to the respect that we give, which goes back to the respect that we get. Whoa, I'm getting dizzy! Point being, respect is taught. It starts upon birth. There's a pecking order to life. Parents, babies, children, young adults, adults, parents. That's the cycle. A favorite blog of mine said today, "we get treated in life the way we teach others to treat us". Hmmm, interesting.
I don't know about you, but I want to be treated nicely. The only way that will happen is if I wake up in the morning and choose to treat myself and everyone in my day nicely. Yes, I choose. Your attitude is completely by choice. We can wake up in the morning and choose to be grumpy (I do this often as I hate mornings), or we can have that cup of coffee, look in the mirror and say "good morning world. I love you today"! Attitude is a choice, choose wisely. I will continue to remind you that the Universal Law of Attraction states that what you put out there is what you will get in return.
Society as a whole has a bad attitude. What can we do, as individuals, to change that? CHOOSE to be in a good mood. Yes, we all have bad days. We have stress. We have life issues to deal with. But, isn't it easier to choose to look at the bright side of things (there is always a bright side), rather than focus on the dark parts? If we realllllllly must focus on the dark parts, do it in solitude. Close yourself off from the rest of the world and mope....alone. Get it out of your system. Reboot and come back to life a normal person the next day (or preferably later the same day). We're allowed to wallow in self-pity. What we are not allowed to do is share that self-pity with others. This is lack of respect....esteem. Bullying.
I don't want to be a bully anymore. I don't want to have low self-esteem. I want to respect myself. I want that self-respect to emanate outward to those around me. I want to smile at someone I don't know just to see the contagious reaction. I want to speak kind words (or none at all). I want to get back to basics and hold doors open for people. I want to give that parking spot to the other guy (I can use the extra walk anyway). I want to pay for the person's meal two tables over for no reason. I want to help that lady across the street. I do, I really do. Do you?
See people, this long winded point is to just love and respect yourself. Teach your children how to love and respect themselves. There is no choice but to then show love and respect to everyone you encounter. This in turn, will bring nothing but love and respect back to you. The end of bullying is simple.
Life's a beach, and then you live on one...
No comments:
Post a Comment