If asked what is that ONE virtue that’s the most important in my life, my answer would undoubtedly be: RESPECT.
Ever since we were kids, we have been taught to always respect elders, be it our parents, relatives, or teachers. And rightly so. I cannot thank my parents enough for reminding my brother and me to always respect people.
While respecting elders is quite an obvious life lesson, respect, in general, is a must. Respect is not limited to talking politely with people or following cultures or traditions. It is about one’s thoughts. The true test of what respect means to a person is the way they treat all the people in their life, young or old. We may not be pursuing the same goals or having the same ambitions as everyone else, but that does not give us the right to demean anyone.
When it comes to respecting others, it should not be for their status or power. It should be for their thoughts, their opinions, and points of view. Everyone has the right to express.
Above all, respecting people begins with self-esteem. Yes. Self-esteem is crucial. No matter how much we respect the people around us, if we do not value ourselves first, it is all a waste.
Respecting oneself is a humongous task. One that requires a lot of time and effort.
We all need to take some time off and appreciate ourselves for what we are and all that we are doing to reach our goals.
In the hustle-bustle of everyday life, appreciating ourselves has become a non-existent part of our life. We need to incorporate this too. It is just as important. This includes taking care of our health, letting go of toxicity and indulging in things that make us happy. Self-love, as they say!
Also, respecting boundaries is important too. All of us need some alone time and space every once in a while.
A phrase my mother constantly repeats is “give respect and take respect.” How true! Respect is two-sided. And it should always be.
At the same time, it extends to our surroundings too. It breaks my heart to see cultural heritage sites and monuments being vandalized. Imagine the work that has gone into making those structures. And people destroying it to their heart’s content? Terrible. Nature too deserves all the respect. The way we are killing nature, bit by bit, for all the goodness it has given to us, isn’t it a shameful and heartless act on our part?
If given a choice between love and respect, it will always be respect for me. Love will always follow. 🙂
What are your views on this? What is the one most important virtue in YOUR life?
Think. Ponder. Reflect.
Until next time, stay blessed! 🙂
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The Soulful Nib 
Nice line “give respect and take respect” 🙂
Agree with the fact that we should learn to respect ourselves too.
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Thank you! 🙂
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“Respect” word is what we are taught from childhood. We are taught to respect Elders, Parents, Teachers, Siblings. But it is up to us to build up this. The punch line of the blog post is ” give respect, take respect”.
I strongly support this give respect,take respect policy .
Respecting Nature, Soldiers should not be restricted to so called”days”
Respecting ourself makes our life beautiful and respecting others makes this universe beautiful.
Good blog post
Looking forward for more.
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Thank you so much 🙂
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Nicely written, respect should not be given for the position or status of people, everyone deserve respect for what they are doing in life, even a person doing lowest level of work also must be respected for what he is doing. Give respect to all, only then u can expect respect from others. Well written chethana. Good
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Thank you so much 🙂 🙂
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Very good post, chetu.
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Thank you 🙂
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