convictions on respect

Lessen Learned...over and over again.

As I venture through this life of mine, I am often reminded of the great luck I have. I am surrounded by very amazing people with great talents and phenomenal hearts. Some of these people I have known my entire life, some I met just this past summer. One thing tht underlines the reality of these fantastic people in my life is the presence of not-so-great people...and believe me, there are some out there.

In my encounters with the different people in this world, I have learned that most everyone has something to teach us in life. Some lessons are much harder and more difficult to learn, where as others are much more enjoyable. I am notoriously bad at determining a persons character. I am much too trusting of people, perhaps even to a fault. Rather than fight with someone and stand my solid ground, I sometimes will back down in an attempt to appease someone who, though I may not agree with what they are saying, I feel has a somewhat valid point or is just so upset or set in their position that its not really worth me arguing. I feel that petty arguments about forgotten birthdays really aren't worth the stress of getting upset over. I would rather give in than argue about it. There are much bigger triumphs and tribulations to focus my energy on. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that my forgiving nature has gotten me trampled over from time to time. Although having my kidness taken advantage of is nothing new to me, in the past year two instances of this have brought something to light for me; my new rules of respect.

I figure that everyone gets my respect to start off with, but in order to keep my respect, you must deserve it. If someone is disrespectful to me or others around them, they lose a little of my respect. It's as simple as that. And with my respect comes my conviction to continue being your friend or not. As your friend, i would gladly give whatever it takes to give you what you need and desire. There is nothing in this world that will ever come before my family and friends. There is nothing I wouldn't do for any one of them or their happiness. Losing my respect, means losing my friendship and my kidness towards you. Now, I will always go on treating friend, stranger, and foe with kindness and respect (I live by the golden rule), but I will not go out of my way for a foe. As far as I'm concerned, someone who doesn't treat you with respect, doesn't deserve your respect. And, really, we are all worth the respect of those around us. If someone doesn't think you are worth it...then they themselves truely aren't.