This week's @ecotrain Question of the Week is “respect.” I admit to being a tad stumped at this one. Although there are actually a couple of more detailed questions on “respect” to choose from, these just flummoxed me more, so I'm just going to stick to some thoughts on the word itself and it's meaning for me, which is part of one of the questions:
What does respect mean to you, who do you respect and why, and how do you demonstrate it?
We often hear talk about tolerance. Tolerance of different people, different cultures, different races.
“tolerance: the ability or willingness to tolerate the existence of opinions or behaviour that one dislikes or disagrees with.”
You tolerate something you dislike, so why would we only tolerate other people? Should we not first respect them?
I'll be honest, I'm not a very trusting person. I learnt at an early age not to trust just anyone and there are few people I would place my full trust in. If someone needs to borrow something, I first ask myself if I can afford to not have it returned. When I meet someone I don't know, I'll avoid being in a position that could put me in danger if they turn out to be hostile. I don't divulge personal information that could put me in an uncomfortable position if they didn't keep it to themselves, even with people I'd call friends.
However, despite my caution, my belief is that everybody should first and foremost be treated with respect. If at some point they cause you to lose that respect for them, then it may need to turn to tolerance, if you have to be around them.
Respect, for me, means treating someone politely, as you yourself would wish to be treated and as if they are just as important as everyone else. As I get to know people, I might gain more or less respect for them, often depending on how they also treat the people and environment around them. I won't give someone more respect that someone else purely on their position, title or uniform. They need to earn that with me.
So you can probably see why I struggle to answer the part of the question “who do you respect?” as, I respect many people and that respect extends to all life. After all, what are we without the life all around us that supports our own life? If we are not respectful towards others, then where does that leave us in the end?