For today’s rant session, I am going to talk about respect. Especially respect for others, which is something I do not see happening as much as it should these days. It seems to me that many people these days do not respect others who do different things with their lives than them. This is a damn shame in my opinion, but never fear because I am here to tell you what the heck is up.
There is an old saying out there that is something like “You should put on other people’s shoes and take a hike.” Basically, you should try seeing things from other perspectives than your own and not just from your one narrow perspective. Do not take offense when I call your perspective narrow, either. If you consider the fact that every single person on this planet has a different, unique perspective, you begin to realize that it really is narrow. That is one of life’s most important lessons, being humble.
Another lesson that people need to know is that everyone has a different set of values and everybody has different sets of things that matter to them and that does not mean them any less valuable, even if you see the things they do as trivial matters. Just as having massive truckloads of friends matters to you, someone else might be happy with just a few very good, quality friends. That does not mean either one of you is wrong, it just means that you have different values than each other. The important thing to remember in these situations is that you should still respect the other person even though they are different from you.
I am sure you have all had someone outright disrespect you before, too. Did it feel nice? I doubt it. Do you know why it did not feel very nice? It is probably because they disrespected something you value. If they put on your shoes and took that magical hike I mentioned, perhaps they would not have been such a jerk and been rude to you. Now consider whether you have done that to someone. I am sure you have, nobody is perfect, including myself. Do you feel bad about it? I sure do. That is just part of growing up, though. It is just one of those lessons you must learn.
At the end of the day, I just want people to realize that while something someone else is doing might seem ridiculous and a waste of time, it is not a waste of time to them. Otherwise, they would not be doing it. Life is short and people do not have time to always be wasting their energy on silly things, so they probably think it is important for one reason or another. If you can think in that mindset then perhaps you have a chance of being a decent human being.
Everyone matters, and everyone has a reason for doing what they are doing. Just because it does not make sense to you or you think it is dumb does not mean it is dumb to them. Even if you do not agree with them, you should give them some gosh dang respect as a fellow human being because they are someone with their own unique experiences that have caused them to be who they are and do what they do.
This world is not perfect and people are not going to start respecting each other because of one little rant like this, but even if one person who reads this tries to start respecting others more, regardless of who they are or what they are doing, this world might be a little closer to being that way.
Keep it real, Laramie. Keep it real.
