Respect

Moving on from my surgery and cancer for this post, I am going to talk about something which has been on my mind for a while now. Its a simple but not so simple thing called.....

RESPECT

Respect comes in many shapes and forms. It is so subtle it becomes like living and breathing... or.... so it should.

Life has changed vastly in the last 20 years and one of the major changes is the change in respect.

Respect for yourself

Respect for others

Respect for authority

The list could go on.

I am not considered THAT old but I do remember as a "young lady" having doors held open for me.

I also remember gentleman "tipping" their hat to me, or if they didn't have a hat they would tug their forelock (and if they didn't have any hair they would pretend to).

Sadly, an example of the fact that this doesn't happen any more is my inability to find "modern" pictures on google for this act.

I must say, the last time a gentleman tipped his had to me was about 10 years ago and this person must have been in his late 90's in age but it made me feel so special and feminine.

My husband is a stickler for gentlemanly behaviour and he always ensures that he is walking on the outside of the pavement, that he pulls my chair for me when we sit down to eat, he allows me to sit first, holds the door open for me and generally makes me feel loved and cherished.

Respect as I started off with though comes in many forms and features throughout our lives.

Respect of others is something I feel very strongly about even though it might not be reciprocated. I was always brought up to imagine myself in the other persons shoes, and how I would feel.... I was also brought up to think "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" and these days I always go by the quote "judge not lest ye be judged".

It shocks and upsets me deeply when others, especially those who I once called friends do not have my way of thinking.

Respect of others comes in many guises: giving up your seat for an older person, making way for people coming in your direction, simple terms such as "excuse me" or "thank you". 

These days I am fed up of being confronted by people who barge along the street as though you are not there.

Respect for yourself.

Letting your standards fall.

Respect for your body.

Rules have changed and attitudes have changed so that "freedom" is the key without regard to humanity, disease the affect on others.

Today the attitude seems to be "I want, I am entitled to, I can"

I love this picture because it says everything that I want to say without words, it says just what I see is happening and I am helpless to stop it.

I can see that attitudes have changed vastly since I was young. Youngsters are no longer interested in the things that drove me.... equality, fairness, poverty, jobs!!!!

These days people seem to thing (and this is a general ism) that that world owes them!!

The world owes nobody anything. We come into the world with nothing, we go out with nothing, what we do in between is up to us with a little bit of luck.

You have your hands.

And in the worlds of "Mike Peters" of "The Alarm" and the song "Spirit of 76".... I was from those times.......

"I'll carve a future with my two bare hands......"

Thank you for reading - I will now get off my soap box!

Pictures courtesy of google search