Respect One Another

“Everyone should be respected as an individual, but no one idolized.”  Albert Einstein

“We are called to play the good Samaritan on life’s roadside; but that will be only an initial act.  One day the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be beaten and robbed as they make their journey through life.  True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it understands that an edifice that produces beggars needs restructuring.”  Martin Luther King, JR. 

“If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart is no island cut off from other lands, but a continent that joins to them.”    Francis Bacon

 

I read news stories and watch the happenings in the world daily where I repeatedly hear about the violence that seems to be ruling us.  Some place along the line fear, anger, and disrespect prominently seem to have taken over the world. WHY?  Why can’t we accept one another?  Why do we have to fight or hurt one another?

         

                  

 

As a child, I was taught to respect different ideas, ideals, and cultures.  Mom said we do not all think alike, and that is OK as I might actually learn something from someone else. If we share ideas and thoughts, imagine the wonderful world we can create. To stop the flow of ideas is to strangle the world and it kills the mindset of the projects we work at developing.

When I took Latin in school, I learned that no language translates exactly, consequently if we work together we can come to an understanding, but we cannot assume that our language or way of doing things is perfect or better than others.  Why force our beliefs on another person?  Look at all the varieties of flowers in the world.  What a glorious garden they create.  If we had only one type of flower blooming around the world, how boring would that be?

Years ago when I traveled to Europe, I was offended by the ways other Americans acted and treated the people of other countries. Somehow the Americans thought they were better than those people around them.  No one category of people is better than another, as we all have our pluses and minuses.  While in Europe, I LOVED the history, and the cultures that engulfed me. The people were fun, intelligent, curious, helpful, and polite. As I walked around the various towns and attempted to communicate with people who did not speak English, I discovered that the towns’ people were as curious about me as I was about them. What a delight it was to have them work with me so that we could understand one another to accomplish simple tasks, like my attempt to ask questions.

 

 

I think the best part of my trip to Europe was a conference I attended as the organization had us play games as teams in order to get to know one another.  There is nothing like sharing a good laugh or working together as a team in order to develop a working relationship and friendships. The conference represented people of all countries around the world.  I found it a delight to work with people whose styles, tastes, and interests were so different from mine.  However our incongruities made us stronger as we worked to forge our dissimilarities.     Try it… you might like it!

 

About Gwynn Rogers

After 20 years of sales and marketing experience in the fields of real estate, high tech, and corporate travel, Gwynn has moved on to the career of “Grandma.” When not teaching her granddaughters an extensive vocabulary of “alley-oop-boop, ups-a-daisy, cowabunga or bummer”, Gwynn can be found hunting for mentors for the Kitsap Youth Mentoring Consortium, or chasing her fantasies on her treadmill. Gwynn currently freelances for magazines.
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11 Responses to Respect One Another

  1. susan scott says:

    It’s a strange strange world we live in Master Jack, you taught me all I know and I’ll never look back …’ do you know that song Gwynn? 4 Jacks and a Jill, from the 1960’s I think – South African band. Funny how that comes back to me as I read your post. I’m also thinking of the necessity to stand apart from the general mess and yet be a part of it, being our genuine selves, interested, curious about those who are different yet we have a universality with all. Thank you for this post, great to see you are writing and the quotes are lovely too ..

    • Gwynn Rogers says:

      Oh Susan, you nailed it! It IS a strange world that we live in. I don’t remember the song, but I’ll definitely have to Google it. I’m sitting here shaking my head wondering how in God’s name we created this mess as there for a while I had thought the world was doing pretty good, but we have MORPHED back into time, not forward. The violence around the world and the trauma to the earth via hurricanes, fires, tornadoes utterly terrify me. But you are correct… we need to stay unconnected, yet connected, as those of us with a positive mindset will need to put the world back together again. Thanks for your kind comments, as I DO appreciate my friends from around the world.

  2. pat garcia says:

    One of the most disturbing things about people everywhere is the inability to respect another person regardless or whether it is nationalism or some religious belief. I believe that runs throughout nationalities and the different cultures.
    Respect in itself stems from being able to love others as you love yourself.
    People everywhere have forgotten this.
    Excellent article my dear.
    Shalom aleichem,
    Patricia

    • Gwynn Rogers says:

      Thanks, Pat, for your comment. The animosity taking place around the world disturbs me enormously. The mindset here in the states since Trump and Pence took over the White House has fallen backwards into time. I’m terribly saddened. It is like there is no longer respect for one another. There are so many beautiful qualities that people from around the world share, why can’t we find them instead of attacking one another? As Susan says, we need to stay disconnected from the discord and connect to the love and cooperation that exists somewhere out there. Thanks for your friendship!

  3. Well said, Gwynn. Why can’t we be nice to one another and coexist? There is plenty of room on this planet for us all.
    Politicians are much to blame for such division — concept of us vs. them pushed on us by plutocrats. It’s terrible to watch. Rural towns pinned against cities, one race against another, all to the detriment of common folks, to the advantage of those stirring it up. I trust this will change, the pendulum always swing, but God knows what our world will look like when the dust settles. Maybe the goodness of humanity prevails. Let’s hope.
    Great post. Always a joy visiting with you.

    • Gwynn Rogers says:

      With the craziness taking place in the world, today’s quote on my desk calendar reads: “Always believe that something WONDERFUL is about to happen.” I have to keep these messages close to me as otherwise I would freak out! I DO wonder what is in store for us in the future. Various people talk of the end of the world and I often wonder if the trauma we are experiencing world wide is the beginning of the end. I do have to trust that the goodness of humanity will prevail, but it DOES have an uphill battle. Watching the quiet rural world, where people worked to help one another disappear saddens me. Plus, I hate to watch our ethics go backwards. Maybe like Ayn Rand in ATLAS SHRUGGED we should create our own little community and disappear. Will you join me? 😉 I’ll bet we could put together a pretty great group of people. I enjoy your insights! Thanks, for being a delightful friend!

  4. Tina Peterson says:

    A wonderful and much idea! Thanks for the good thoughts!!

  5. Tina Peterson says:

    Oops: MUCH needed idea!

    • Gwynn Rogers says:

      Thanks, Tina, for your comments. The animosity that is taking place in the U.S. and the world is driving me nuts. It is past time for people to learn to work together and respect one another’s ideas. You don’t have to agree, but maybe you can adjust things so there is a commonality. It is OK for people to be different in this world. Enjoy your day.

  6. ~Lee~ says:

    So many great quotes. Thank you for all the reminders — I especially like the one about flowers just blooming and not comparing!

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