To be respected is a far greater compliment than Love. They say respect for ourselves guides our morals, while respect for others guides our manners. There is no relationship without mutual respect. So, what is respect really? They say it is a positive feeling towards another’s skills, opinions or characteristics. It also means honoring a person’s beliefs, ideas or culture. Respect requires seeing an individual as a person first. Simply put, respect is caring how our actions impact others. Being inclusive and understanding others for who they are, even when they are different.

Usually, respect starts with confidence and is linked with empathy, compassion, integrity and honesty. Respect means that you accept someone for who they are. Respect in relationships is all about building feelings of trust, safety and wellbeing. Usually, respect for and between individuals is structured along three distinctive aspects: Human Recognition, Status Recognition and Appraisal Respect.

Respect is a word that is thrown out a lot especially with children growing up. “Show respect”, “Respect your elders”, “Respect others”…. here we are simply stressing the importance of being kind to everyone, especially those who are lost, lonely or struggling. Respect for others leads to you being a better person and in general, a good human, while being respected by others leads you to feeling better about yourself. It is the feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements.

Respect helps breed Tolerance and Acceptance. We cannot deny we are living in a world that is constantly changing and evolving. Respect is what enables us to educate, enlighten and tolerate the differences in a fast-changing world. In the world today, rife with differences, we learn to be accepting of everyone and everything. Whether you are gay, straight, gender binary, it truly matters not. Respect for all gives us access to the same freedoms, and rights to be seen as equals.

The best relationships – whether platonic, professional or romantic – consists of give and take. When you respect someone – whether a friend, partner or colleague – you are telling them, through your words and actions, that the relationship means as much to you as it does to them. Respect often makes you a good listener. When you have gained someone’s respect you will recognize who really wants your advice or who wants simply to be heard.

When you are respected, you know you and your ideas and opinions are valued. This in turn will inspire you to share them. Respect from people at the workplace or in intimate relationships encourages you to think freely and flex your independence. You feel worthy to bring your creativity and talent to the table. You feel you are capable of truly making a difference and contributing to something bigger and better in the long run.

If you respect your relationships, it means less emotional and physical abuse. Respect never allows you to bring harm on the people you love. You will never make them feel less worthy of love or respect from yourself or others. Respecting others is to make them feel loved and protected at all times. A person who loves and respects you, is someone you have in your corner at all times, at your best and most of all at your worst. Respect is the key to society’s progress.

Respect is the foundation on which interpersonal relationships and personal growth is built. For a relationship to thrive, it needs to feed on love, respect and trust. It is easier to love someone when there is mutual respect and trust. Respect is the street paved with honesty. When you respect someone lying, cheating or dishonoring them is the furthest thing from your mind. You learn about trusting and handling things a lot differently. Not because it makes you but because you want to.

A lot of times respecting others is about setting healthy boundaries – giving the opposite person space is an important element to a healthy relationship. Demanding boundaries for yourself is as important. We need our own personal space time to decompress, unwind and refresh. If someone respects you, they will follow your cues and give you all the space you need, without prying, without complaining, and most of all without judgement. Respect in turn is also about letting people know how grateful their presence in your life means to you. Respect, like they say, is the greatest expression of love… but remember, you need to give it to get it!