A Look at Respect

            Respect seems to be something that is in high demand but rarely seen. I think as an American I, along with a lot of others, tend to take our freedoms out of the context in which we they were put into place. We take freedom of speech to an extreme, occupying the front of our county courthouse in opposition to the most recent law being passed. I think this is an amazing freedom. Without it, we would not be America. I also think this freedom is taken too far on occasion. We will defend our opinions no matter what it takes until we’re blue in the face. The thing is, if you do it without respect, no one will hear it. That’s why nothing changes. I think people don’t hear things I have to say sometimes because I’m not coming from a perspective of respecting them, I’m just telling them my opinion no matter what it takes. We all do it, but like I said, no one hears it unless we respect that person.

I’ve asked several people in the past how to define the word respect. I decided to ask a man whom I have a ton of respect for; because I figured he of all people would be able to come to a definition. He started off by saying, “It’s a certain amount of affection...” and then he stopped because he couldn’t explain it. I also asked several other people. Very few of them could come up with an answer they were confident with.

Why is respect such a difficult thing to answer? It’s something that is so common in all of our lives, and we can’t define it. Try to put respect into words right now. You could show it, but it’s so hard to explain.

            I don’t think I really have a solid point or a conclusion I’ve come to thinking through this besides the fact that respect is something I need to work on in my own life. I think every single human being deserves respect, because they’re a person too. That could be a very controversial opinion, but it’s what I believe. Every single person is a person, no matter who they are. No matter their position, looks, actions, where they live, how they’ve changed, they’re still a human being who deserves some form of respect. I don’t always do that. I need to realize my job isn’t to judge others. It’s to love others, and respect them for simply being.

I have a teacher who is incredibly sarcastic. I have a ton of respect for her. When I do something stupid or do something questionable in class she calls me out on it. I could very easily get offended by her saying whatever she says sometimes, but I know she respects me. I know she’s saying things either because she’s just joking around or she’s genuinely looking out for my well-being. I know she respects me, so I don’t get upset.

            I think that’s what we all need to do, especially if we want our voices to be heard. We need to show people that we respect them and then they’ll listen. If I didn’t know my teacher had respect for me, I would have a completely different opinion of her. In order to be heard we first need to be respected and to show respect. The demand for respect doesn’t need to go down, but showing respect needs to go up.

            I believe my generation has a lot of talent and can do a lot of really amazing things. I think before we do that, we need to learn what respect really is and how to get it. To older generations we look like a bunch of “hoodlums”. But that’s not what we are at all. We need to show people who are older than us that that isn’t us. We need to be what we were meant to be. We need to change the world. We need to show older generations respect so that they can respect us, and trust putting their world into our hands. I know we can. I hope we will. I hope that one day my generation will genuinely be a world changer. I believe it’s possible, and I won’t not believe it until the day I die. Respect is so abstract and so concrete at the same time. This is how I feel about it.