I’m almost embarrassed to admit my difficulty in writing about respect this week.
How do you put words to such a foundational element to being together and seeing each other for who we truly are.
Respect is the basis for the likes of trust, tolerance, acceptance – and to tease it apart appears a challenge.
I grew up with a far too healthy dose of deference for police enforcement and government authorities.
Fear of being followed by a police car or an unexpected letter from the taxman is not right.
Neither is staying silent and under the radar so as not to rock the boat for future potential development permits to be approved.
In one breath these are ridiculous thoughts, but in another comes the realization there are vast numbers of people who live daily under real threats.
Obedience through authority over another is not respect.
Where there’s respect, there’s a personal responsibility taken to see another and understand where they’re coming from.
By no means does this imply agreement on everything, but we become engaged in discussion, sharing opinions, open questioning, inward reflection and change.
And we can create the room for differences to exist and embrace diversity more fully.
With the presence of respect we can open into the freedom and vulnerability of being fearless in who we are.
Wednesdays are your personal invitation to look into the everyday, as well as the philosophical, in order to see where we’re already Living Bliss. As the Life we seek becomes part of our normal day-to-day, we can easily forget we’ve found ourselves as we work, live and play.
Blissed by cats, potatoes and clouds, Lorraine is a “curious left-brained creative big picture idea” type who never stops questioning or connecting the dots to make possibilities come true. She uses her knack for combining intuitive abilities and logic to help you hear the inner whispers “there’s something more” and re-ignite what Lights you up. Lorraine’s deepest wish is for you to be full out yourself in everything you do – a life truly lived in bliss. You can also join her weekly look into the everyday with Letters From Home.