What is respect?
Dr Jozelle Miller
May 15, 2018

What is respect?

Respect must be earned through trust

Respect has great significance in daily life. As children, we are taught to respect ourselves, our family, people, cultural traditions, people’s feelings and rights, our country’s flag and leaders. And we come to value and have respect for such things.

Nonetheless, respect cannot be purchased or acquired. Respect must be earned through trust.A characteristic of respect of a moral person is that they are respectful of themselves. It is part of everyday knowledge that respect and self-respect are intensely connected, if we don’t respect ourselves, others will not respect us.

Self-respecting individuals think about how their actions affect the people around them. They reason about what they do and ask themselves, “Is my actions going to hurt their feelings?” They consider the consequences wisely before acting. They also think through what they say before blurting out upsetting words.

When self-respecting people engross in disagreements with others, they act cautiously. They understand that upsetting words won’t help the person understand what is mistaken and will damage the relationship.Other than that, moral people respect themselves by taking care of their body and do not involve themselves into negative activities.

They do not drink, smoke or do drugs as they know the consequences of those activities to their health. When they have determination to keep their body in good working order, they’ll not only feel healthier physically, but there’s also a feel of sense of pride.

Moral individuals respect the elders within their communities. They would offer to help them, with basic things such as to open the door, help them when crossing the road or giving them seat in the van or at the doctor’s office for instance.A morally sound person will see the importance in respecting one’s parents. Without parents, one wouldn’t be here in the first place. As a moral person, they would respect their parents and appreciate them.

Listen to parent’s advice and obey them as they know what’s best for us. Being a respectful person also means that one speaks politely to people and does not raise one’s voice when unnecessary. They would address older people with appropriate name, not on a first name basis; (as my mom would have taught me…remember you are not sex and size with an adult; know your place and role).Respect is defined as a regard for or gratitude of the worth of someone.

Respect should be the foundation of the society in which we live. Most individuals appreciate getting respect from others BUT SAD to say most of the time people fail to give respect.The moral fabric of our society is in need of repair. We have to begin instilling these fundamental principles in your little ones, as they are going to be the men and women of tomorrow.

It is vital that we know the difference between right and wrong, achieve the skills needed to reach challenging moral goals, and discover the inspiration to do what is morally desirable. We have to work at increasing our own logical skills and self-reflection to assist us in concluding what is moral.

The world is just too complex and there are too many scenarios. Many things are now regarded as being relative. Relative to one’s own judgements and perceptions but I believe it is time for us to revisit those ABSOLUTE guidelines as the measure of morality going forward into the future.“

What is wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it. Right is still right, even if no one else is doing it.” – William Penn