Aretha Franklin was a great singer with an awesome voice. Her song “respect” is nothing short of a classic. But this entry is not about the song; but rather the word itself.
Lately, there are so many news on conflicts, crimes, intolerance and to some level “backstabbing”. In this day and age, freedom of speech is endless with blogs and social media like facebook, youtube, twitter etc. Although you might say that there are still limitations on what you can write or say; that doesn’t mean that there is no freedom.
Freedom needs to be understood. The definition of freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. But I don’t quite agree with that. We live in a civilised world and age. We have rules and regulations. Maybe rules are meant to be broken. But we are forgetting one important principle in life that is – RESPECT.
Everybody can exercise their freedom but with respect to one another. Respect is both given and received. Live your life having this principle and I can guarantee that you don’t break any rules or cause any physical or emotional to anyone – individual or a group.
Repect each others beliefs, thoughts, religion, culture, space, and just plain respect each other’s being. God made all of us unique with different purposes. We live in this community together and we need each other. Respect when you enter to someone else’s home, respect the other drivers and pedestrians on the road, respect your colleagues’ and clients’ time, respect your parents’ sacrifices, your siblings’ support and your spouses’ feelings, respect the person queueing in front or at the back of you, respect the person who is using the toilet after you.. simple things like that. All you need is respect. That’s why no matter how smart and brilliant you are without respect you are just as low.
In the National Education Blueprint, they tried to define what should we aspire our kids to be – knowledgeable, bilingual, ethical and spiritual, nationalistic, critical thinking and leadership. But one day, when I have a kid, one key principle that I want to instill is actually respect. When he/ she understands what respect is all the other 6 will come naturally. That is my strong belief. RESPECT. I hope that everybody will learn to respect each other and I hope I will always remember this and avoid my emotions taking over my actions.
MCM - Made of Collective Mess 