Mutual Respect

My mom never taught me to respect authority or my elders. She taught me to respect everyone. Whether it is my elder or a small child, whether it is someone who is in a position of authority or not, whether it is a person or an animal.

The only caveat she gave me was I did not need to show respect to someone who is not respecting me.

I am so grateful for this because I treat all people with respect. I truly believe that my life goes smoother because I approach life this way. When I contact someone in a business, my interaction generally goes well due to this respect.

I understand that just because someone does something differently from me, it does not mean that it is wrong. We all have our own circumstances and reasons why.

This makes the ability to live a calm and happy life very doable.

I don’t live with harshness or criticism. Because of this, it eliminates the need for judging others because they are different from me.

If we all practice this, we could have difficult but productive conversations. We can learn from each other, we can grow as a person. Even if we don't have the same perspective, we can agree to disagree. 

I value respect so much, that this is the highest value I put on relationships. I believe that when you respect someone, all the other qualities in a relationship will fall in line. If you respect someone, you try to be 100% honest. If you respect someone, you have their best interest at heart. Mutual respect means you don't lie to each other and you don't intentionally hurt each other.

This is a life lesson that should be practiced and shared as much as possible. Because... wouldn't it be nice if we could all live and let live in genuine harmony?