THE DIGNITY OF RESPECT

An aura of Dignity
Is the outer evidence of inherent Respect.
I find true respect to be a state of honour, esteem and trust in the whole nature of Self,
A state of being that is shared unconditionally with other people,
And the nature of all things.

Respect for others begins with respect for one's self,
And ends with the loss of self-trust and self-respect.
When we say we've "lost our respect" for someone else,
We usually mean we feel unsafe in their presence;
We no longer trust the security of our Self.

Most of us lost touch with self-trust and respect
When we sold out to respectability.

In its stead we replaced self-respect with self-justification,
And respect for others
With a veneer of (sincerely felt) obedience, politeness, tolerance, friendship,
A show of support,
And maybe even awe and reverence.
None of those things is, of itself, Respect.
The shell is therefore brittle,
As evidenced by how we react when someone we thought we respected
Does something, as all humans do from time to time, contrary to "character".
We feel let down, affronted and suddenly awfully vulnerable.
When we get upset about it,
It's a good sign that we were kidding ourselves:
What we felt for this person was something far less than genuine respect.

But we'll rarely cop to that;
We'd rather blame the "other' for betraying us,
And feel hurt and right.