R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I’ve been thinking a lot about respect lately.

It’s a conversation Marissa and I have been having with our son, Sebastian, as well.

The sentiment being: that we encourage him to be kind, to be considerate, to be respectful…

And also, that’s it’s possible to be both nice and to not allow yourself to be disrespected.

Respect, I’ve found, can be a heavy word.

It’s something that I think many people can relate to not always giving where it’s due.

As the adage goes: respect is not given, it is earned.

I look back through the pages of my own life and I can see where, when I had no respect for myself, I, in turn, had little respect for others.

And it was in those moments, I would commit many of my gravest mistakes as a human being.

I’ve listened to stories told by my mother, stories told by my father (before he passed away in 2011) and stories I still hear from my maternal grandmother (pictured below, who just turned 93 this week) and I hear countless examples of where respect was granted and where respect was lost.

I write these words as a father, a son, a husband, and my life tends to work much better when I work from a place of respect.

Respect for myself, first and foremost.

Respect for others, as a result.

Easy words to write, much harder to live and demonstrate.

I believe, that when we can work from a foundation of respect, we listen better, we care more deeply, we pay attention to signals our bodies give us about when to press the gas and when to pump the brakes.

It’s not a perfect process, it’s not a perfect philosophy, it’s flawed and nuanced and fraught with periods where it all goes off track.

It’s a sentiment that’s been a consistent thread in our home, in our family’s conversations, and I believe it will remain something we talk about for many years to come.

I believe it takes a certain degree of self-awareness to see where it’s missing in your life.

I also believe that when we have it, and show it, the world inside us and around us tends to improve.

I know how it was taught to me, and even though it has not always been at the forefront of my mind and my behaviors, respect is something I try to always bring back to the center.

And I hope you’ve found a place for it in your life as well.