Ok, how many of you just started singing, “R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Find out what it means to me”?? Guilty, right?
Respect is an interesting word if you stop to think and define it to yourself. It is something that can be given and earned at the same time. It can be spoken of loudly or it can be quietly gestured. So, if you did stop and think about what it really means to you, what did you come up with?
Staying with the song-theme from the Aretha shout-out above, I tried to think of a new way to discuss what respect means. Let’s all go back to our roots to the first song most of us ever learned – the ABCs – to figure out the several ways that RESPECT can be given, learned, earned, seen, grown, felt, and displayed:
Admire others’ abilities
Be a cause for greatness
Consider differences
Develop morals
Elicit kindness
Favor cooperation
Graciously give
Harvest esteem
Ignite motivation
Join together
Kick-start inspiration
Listen lively
Master distinction
Negate quick judgments
Optimize opportunity
Pray
Question how to be a better YOU
Radiate passion
Sacrifice for others
Transmit positivity
Undertake out-of-comfort-zone tasks
Value diversity
Welcome learning
Xerox good examples (Yes, I just pulled off the “X”!)
Yield to open-mindedness
Zone in your self-respect
Michael J. Bates
The Civility Project; Making Courtesy Common
04/10/2013 |