Respect

Respect is a fickle thing, it takes years of labour to build it, reputations and experiences, yet it can be thrown away in a foolish second, as soon as we let our guard down. Why is respect so hard to gain? Does it really help us and When can it be worthless?

The difficulty of acquisition comes with the nature of the thing, respect itself is, to me, a reflection of character and intelligence. Such a deep and imprecise thing that it takes years to analyse and identify. Yet with some, for reasons we can’t really explain it can be brought about at first impression.

First impressions are everything and nothing, a strong confident person can win us over with a smile, yet with time the bar will be revealed too high and deteriorate into mere disappointment, it is usually those that we overlook that we eventually find to be of the most moral character.

Genuinely though it all comes down to what we have inside us, but what really matters is what we exhibit, a flawed man can live a flawless life with self control as a flawless man can make his own flaws to live by. Arrogance for one. Someone’s intelligence is lost without the ability to portray and apply such intelligence and from that portrayal we can deem a sense of respect, as we can with the character a person shows.

Let us take the example of the average secondary school teacher. A teacher has the most impossible and underrated job in the world, teaching is impossible without the respect of the students that are determined to be everywhere  else, but in that classroom. Some manage it, with their ability to produce and pass on their knowledge, but to do it mixed in with good character and control, usually these are the ones that succeed, the ones that can be enjoyable to be with, but remain in control and portraying intelligence. There are those without character and with intelligence that find a sleeping classroom awaiting them and those that are great fun, but dismiss a classroom no brighter then they entered and they lack the professional respect they need to teach, they are seen as walkovers.

Respect is a neccessity to live our lives, every human has an innate need to share their lives with someone, without the mutual respect in a relationship, be it professional or social, it is impossible to do this, to build a society or any organization. Everything must be built on foundations, foundations strongest in trust and respect. Otherwise we find ourselves in endless conflict.

The nature of respect itself makes it so simple to lose, a moment of folly, loss of concentration can destroy your entire structure because the foundation can be torn away in a moment when our negatives are revealed. The armour we wear is our curse and our saviour, released only by others, others whom in the prescence of we can feel truly vulnerable and truly safe.