Human Respect...

...The word respect is defined as a feeling of appreciative regard and a willingness to show consideration or appreciation for someone. In today's society I think that the value of the word has been lost to people as a whole. What it really boils down to is treating people the way that you would want them to treat you. You wouldn't want someone to talk down to you, or to discredit your opinions, or to treat you as if you were not worthy of their time, so you shouldn't treat other people that way. Yet a lot of people do based on premature judgments of strangers, or even the comfortableness of family and friends. In order to get respect you have to give it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and no one has the right to judge that opinion or its truth to its owner. Everyone deserves instant respect per their right as a human being. Some people might do things that make you respect them more, or maybe less, but everyone deserves at least that initial, basic respect. I think the reason for this is because no one really knows what a person has been through or how it affected them on the inside but that person. No one can live the life of another, and no one can feel what another person actually feels inside. Every person has their own story, their own skeletons and secrets. If you don't you are not human. All people fought their own personal battles to get where they are today, some of them lost those battles, some of them won. So everyone deserves the respect that is due for doing the best they can in their situation, holding on to their beliefs in the face of their adversaries, overcoming whatever personal obstacles they have encountered in their life's path, and still having the courage to get up every morning and face another day of whatever private heaven or hell they live in. We would do good to remember this when dealing with situations concerning other people and give them their human respect....