Kevin Jung Respect Respect is one of the most fundamental building blocks of human intimacy and interaction. Respect is arduous to earn and give, but a cinch to give up and take for granted. It is the most decisive aspect to have in a friendship or relationship, but it is also the most strenuous to master. Respect is a paragon for the very bane of human existence and society. Respect, first and foremost, is considering and including someone else’s feelings, needs, thoughts, ideas, wishes and preferences. It doesn’t stop there though, not only do you have to consider and be aware of these foreign feelings but you must take them seriously, give them thought, and hold them to the same scared regard as your feelings. You must remember that not everyone holds the same position and platform as you do, and you must learn to accept other people’s individuality and idiosyncrasies. You must pay sagacious and meticulous attention to how others feel and place yourself in their shoes and ask yourself how you would feel if you were placed in that position. Contrary to popular belief, respect cannot be demanded and forced; if it is achieved in such way, the respect will have shifted to a sense of pseudo-respect, destroying and completely nullifying the very meaning of respect. You have to be a good person like promoting concepts of propriety, courtesy, and other benevolent warm ideas and asking others for their feelings about said subject. You have to be true to what you believe and feel, you cannot be hypocritical and preach logic, maturity, and candor while living irrationally, childishly, and ingenuously. You will become an ad hominem; basing your arguments off your own misguided sense of judgment, attacking with a lack of respect and consideration for the feelings of others and their arguments. The feeling of respect will be strained and broken. Remember that respect is like a single lonely strand of a spider web in the sense that although it can handle a lot of pressure and complications, it is not invincible, and when that single strand is combined and strengthened to become a web, a whole new world of opportunities and experiences await, comparable to how the complicated intricate web of respect will blossom as new feelings and emotions wait to be discovered. Before even attempting to respect others, you must learn how to respect yourself. Bolster your confidence in yourself and you will find that accepting others and respecting them comes with ease. No matter how you view it, respect is a pertinent aspect of our everyday lives, people base everyday decisions off the amount of respect they have for something obliviously. Respect is a visceral notion that we are born with, but something we must learn and pick up pieces along the way to fully understand its specious pretenses and uses. In the world today, respect can be seemingly placed aside and ignored, but whenever things don’t happen like they should or betrayal hangs thickly in the air, a lack of human decency and respect can be felt like a shockwave. We cannot live without it and the few people who chooseto live in a world of lies and no respect can be seemingly viewed as a waste of breathing space and an epic failure and embarrassment to the human race.