Respect

A great general once said "he who respects others is respected by them." Another favorite quote about respect I like is, "in order to receive respect, you must first give respect." So what is respect? Read the following story and then we will discuss it.

A doctor, a lawyer, a little boy and a priest were out for a Sunday afternoon flight on a small private plane. Suddenly, the plane developed engine trouble. In spite of the best efforts of the pilot, the plane started to go down. Finally, the pilot grabbed a parachute and yelled to the passengers that they better jump, and he himself bailed out.

Unfortunately, there were only three parachutes remaining.

The doctor grabbed one and said “I’m a doctor, I save lives, so I must live,” and jumped out.

The lawyer then said, “I’m a lawyer and lawyers are the smartest people in the world. I deserve to live.” He also grabbed a parachute and jumped.

The priest looked at the little boy and said, “My son, I’ve lived a long and full life. You are young and have your whole life ahead of you. Take the last parachute and live in peace.”

The little boy handed the parachute back to the priest and said, “Not to worry Father. The smartest man in the world just took off with my back pack.”

In this story there are three selfish characters. It is hard to be respectful when you believe that you are better than everyone else. You treat others differently and they know the difference. In this case, the smartest man was not so smart and grabbed the wrong bag. Just like the smartest man, when we are not respectful, we often make poor choices.

The preacher was willing to give the boy respect. The preacher was at a point  in his life that he was comfortable with his place in the world and the chaos that follows. In the mist of that chaos he showed respect and had it given back to him in the form of a parachute.

How you treat others is really the essence  of respect. If we are kind, and helpful, then we are showing respect. When we act respectful, others notice something special about us and want to be our friend. 

So by showing respect, you can have more friends. If we are hitting others or not sharing we are not being respectful. People may pretend that they respect you when you are mean, but they are really just afraid of you and will leave your company the first chance that they get.

Enjoy the video which is in three parts. It is the Story of Mojo and how he learns to gain respect.

Mojo and Respect Part 1

Mojoe and Respect Part 2

Mojo and Respect Part 3