There’s a good reason relationships lasted longer in previous centuries: respect and courtesy.
The 21st century has dragged with it a more carefree culture that stresses solely on personal happiness and self respect.
Although these factors are an essential part of an individual’s life, they have to be extended into all relationships as well to make sure they last.
Besides, it is really quite difficult to love or respect yourself when you are not putting your best foot forward for the people in your life.
What is respect? And why is it important?
It means respecting yourself, respecting the dignity and rights of others and even respecting the environment that protects us and sustains life.
Respect can be explained quite simply too – it keeps us from hurting those we value.
It is important because respect makes relationships last.
When parents respect and support their children’s decisions as they grow up and when spouses respect each other’s choices, it keeps families together, if they choose.
Consequently, respect allows your loved ones to communicate honestly and freely with you as well.
Cultivating self respect and respect for others
You can begin by treating yourself well.
Don’t underestimate your talents and abilities at work.
Be confident about undertaking new tasks and prepare yourself well to give it your best.
Creating a more confident persona for yourself will instill a better sense of self respect too.
Next, it’s good to constantly take a nice, long look at how you treat your colleagues, friends and family. If you notice a strained relationship or an exasperated one, it’s certainly time to zero in on its cause.
In most cases, the root cause for such unbalanced relationships is the lack of respect in the relationship. For example, if you are not answering a friend’s call or ignoring his messages, it could send out the wrong message.
While you may be waiting weeks for some “free time” to call back, failing to return calls or messages from parents or friends immediately may indicate to them that you don’t respect the time they’ve taken to call you and stay in touch.
I struggle with this a lot. On a typical day I get hundreds of emails, countless texts, and many voicemails. I literally don’t have the time to get through all messages, so tend to return the business oriented communication first, and friends and family tend to come after.
That’s just how it goes for me at the moment, but always looking for better solutions.
Benefits of respecting your relationships
To put it briefly, what goes around comes around.
If you want to be taken seriously and treated well, it’s best to dole out the same treatment for those around you. For instance, try not to be dismissive when your children approach you with simple questions and requests even if you are knee deep in household chores.
You are more likely to be rewarded with level minded teenagers rather than grumpy youngsters waiting to be taken seriously.
Most of us begin all our relationships with a healthy dose of respect. Unfortunately, even if familiarity does not bear contempt, it certainly takes away much of the respect we have for the other person.
You’d probably do well to remember that no matter how well you know someone, it doesn’t mean that your friend, spouse or colleague needs to be treated with any less respect than when you didn’t know them intimately.