Respect. Thanks to the late, great Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin sang about it. In fact she spelled it out- R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Respect is what we should show ALL of our brothers and sisters, no matter what the circumstances. There's never, ever a reason not to show respect, even if you have to dig deep, or even fake it.
That's self-explanatory, but on the other side of the coin is disrespect. I think it's one of the biggest character flaws a person could have, although people who show disrespect actually feel better about themselves when they do it. That's fucked-up.
Right now there are three people, whom I don't really communicate with much any longer, who've treated me with utter disrespect. They didn't do it all the time, but just once is enough...enough to show who and what they really are. Not that they're obliged to follow the example, but never once did I treat them with disrespect. It's called "not stooping to their level," and it's just plain wrong.
I've mentioned this many times, but I clearly remember being on the playground, in second grade I think, and seeing a typical bully talking down to another kid, telling him he was stupid, and this and that. I realized right then and there who the stupid one truly was, and what a jerk he was making himself look like.
I decided I'd never be that guy, even if I were treated disrespectfully by someone. I've stuck to it. I don't know if it has anything to do with it, but, for most of my life anyway, I've had friends who are worth their weight in gold. I do know that you don't have high-quality friends if you're a disrespectful asshole.
When someone treats someone else with disrespect, whom is it really a reflection on, the disrespector, or the disrespectee? That's a rhetorical question. A kid should know the answer, and so should an adult. People who need to make themselves feel better about themselves by putting other people down are truly sad and empty on the inside. They're making up for their own shortcomings by trying to point out flaws in someone else. Children act this way, but adults shouldn't, and if they do, it's a bad sign.
The only thing worse than treating someone with disrespect, is not knowing that you're treating them that way, and thinking it's normal. That's a huge red flag, and honestly those people are "energy vampires." If you let them, they'll suck the life out of you, to make up for the lifelessness in them. People who think it's normal in any way to talk-down to someone, have some serious issues, although they don't realize it, and would certainly never admit it.
For instance, I'd be arguing with a certain family member, and I'd say something that they knew was 100% true, but since they couldn't logically dispute it, rather than admit that Their Brilliancy could EVER be wrong, they simply hurled an insult. In their mind, their childish insult magically trumped the truth, although reality doesn't work that way. They insulted me and talked-down to me and tried to make me look stupid, for saying something they knew was true. That's interesting. It's sad, but interesting.
When I tried to call them on it, they said that they were just trying to "make a point." Right. In the interest of research, I posed the situation to at least half a dozen friends, mostly through Facebook messages, and I still have the replies. Basically they all said the same thing, almost word-for-word, "What point are they trying to make...that they're an asshole?" Well-said, y'all, and thanks for the confirmation.
These people don't have the ability to truly look inward, and acknowledge the issue, much less fix it, and again, it's a big-ass red flag if someone thinks that treating people like that is normal in any way. You can take all the disrespect in the world, and still not lower yourself to disrespect them back, but they don't get it. They're not wired that way.
It's how they get their jollies, and they'll never change. With energy vampires, the best thing to do is limit or eliminate contact as much as possible. Negative emotions such as envy, anger and such resonate in the lower frequencies, while positive emotions, such as respect, vibrate in the higher frequencies, and those are the ones you want to shoot for. It's not Woo-Woo. It can be measured, and it's backed up by science (SCIENCE). You'll know, because when you get away from someone like that, you'll feel a weight lift off your shoulders, and that's the negative energy. It's a real deal. It's great.
They also don't get how it makes them look. They think that putting someone down somehow elevates them, but yo, that ain't how it be. If you saw a video of two people having an argument, and one person made a valid point, but the other person responded with a childish insult, who'd look like the asshole? That's another rhetorical question, that is to everyone but them. They'll never get it.
I've been watching a lot of predator-poacher vids lately, where someone poses as a minor and tries to catch Pedos. When they confront the bad guy their blood is boiling and they're often shaking, but usually not nearly as much as the person being confronted and surprised shitless, sometimes literally.
There are a few very notable exceptions- some people insult them and talk-down to them, and if there's ever a situation where disrespect is acceptable it's that, but again it just shows that they're narcissistic pricks, and are getting off by putting other people down. I'm sure as Hell not defending Pedos, but disrespect is disrespect. They're showing who they truly are inside. They're showing their asses.
Most of the Pedo-Poachers however, still manage to treat these vile monsters with respect, which granted takes incredible self-control, which many don't possess. It blows my mind that some people can't treat me with the same respect that these guys treat a fucking "kid-fiddler," as the Brits would say. Damn. I guess that's about all I have to say. Either you treat people with respect or you don't. How do you treat others?
