I've been thinking about the way I deal with people. Been reading about it. One of the concepts that comes up most often is that of respect.
But the truth is, I have no idea what is respect. I can feel respect for certain people, and I can feel that I lack it for certain others. I notice that some people lose all respect quickly by doing something that clashes with my ideals. But I can't put into words what makes respect or how to express it.
I'm rebuilding myself again after a dreadful month, and I could use some perspective. Respect in one of the topics I want to understand and embrace. Hubski is full of people far more competent in such matters than I am, so I thought I'd ask here as a first measure of discovery.
So. What is respect? How do I show respect to those who've earned mine? What does it mean to disrespect someone?
I'd agree it's a pretty broad and hard to define topic. When it comes to maturity and respecting people though, I think there is at least one aspect that is important to recognize. Everyone is a complex person with deep thoughts, their own motivations, and they are perceptive of all sorts of things that they will not outwardly ever show. There are times when it is very tempting to label someone as "clueless" or "stupid" or just not the complex and intelligent person they actually are.
There was a much younger version of me who had sort of drifted away from a friend. We were never great friends or anything, and I thought this person was a bit aloof and clueless about me, and I felt like a bit of an outsider on their particular circle, so I seriously thought they would have no idea I was even drifting. Much later I found out that that person had perceived everything going through my head, and it made me really re-evaluate the way I looked at people.