I believe that we should pay respect to every person of all ages. Respect is a word thrown around in movies, songs, even everyday life. But what is the true definition of respect?
There are many definitions for respect in the dictionary such as, “esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, the condition of being esteemed or honored, or a formal expression or gesture of greeting, esteem, or friendship.” But in my eyes respect is whether or not you treat someone with reverence and hospitality. Everyday we are told to pay our elders respect, but shouldn’t that same respect be applied to all people? We respect our parents, hopefully, we respect our teachers, we respect our boss’, but why don’t we respect each other?
People get so caught up in their own lives that they may not even notice that they are being rude to someone. We see people everyday bumping in to each other and instead of apologizing and walking away you scream “What was that for!!?” We also see this same disrespect coming from our fellow-drivers, a person cuts you off and you’re either screaming a slew of profanities or flipping them the bird. Respect should also be shown to your children. You shouldn’t grab your child be the arm and start screaming at them or spanking them in public, its embarrassing to both you and the child.
Above all else, you should show respect to yourself. You should respect your mind, your body, and your heart. You should treat yourself the way you would treat anyone else and you should never try to harm yourself in any way because it would be a failure of self-respect. Self-respect is a kind of pride — not an arrogant pride, but a pride in your own way of trying. A belief that you will do what you can, as best you can. So I believe in respect. Because without respect there’s no caring; and without caring, life is desolate. We may not be able to achieve perfect respect for others and self-respect, but it’s never a bad thing to try, because respect is the key to a good life.