Respect is Given not Earned!

I titled this blog post with that statement for a reason... I have heard tons of adults, teenagers, and even kids tell me, when ever I ask why they are so disrespectful, that their respect needs to be earned and that they don't just give people respect. However, contrary to society's beliefs I don't really think this statement is true by any means. I learned many things my first year of college but three of the most important things I learned I heard everyday for the first week and those three things are... 1. Treat others with respect even if you don't like that person, 2. Always say thank you to those you help you, and 3. Always ask yourself am I doing the right thing! Today I received two phone calls today both of which came from adults that I consider my heroes and both of whom I have an very high level of respect for...

The first call came in at about eleven a clock this morning, as I answered I was greeted with a shaky voice as if the person on the other end was holding back tears, the conversation went as follows: "hey were you and Austin (one of my best friends) out running around last night?" to which I replied "Umm no I was in bed by 8 and me and Austin haven't talked in a couple days, why whats wrong?"... before I go on let me give you a little bit of a back story this person had just recently (and by recently I mean less then a month ago) bought a new 2013 dodge ram truck... back to the conversation... "Well I have a few ewes that are lambing so I stayed the night at my dads house in order to watch them and while I was there someone egged and poured chocolate syrup all over our new truck and I was just making sure it wasn't you"... my first thought was "why would you think it was me!" and my second thought was "are you freaking kidding me, what is wrong with people!" The conversation lasted about ten more minutes and was filled with many more frustrations and venting.

Those phone calls are the reason why I bring up this subject tonight!! You see I'm sooo freaking sick of watching the people I love, admire, and respect get hurt and upset because people in today's society think that they need to treat people with hatred and disrespect in order to gain something! I'm sorry to say but you don't gain ANYTHING by treating others like this!

I have taught or preached rather to hundreds of high school students that every single person on this earth has infinite potential to achieve great things and to change the very foundation of this world! That every time you degrade, put down, or bully someone else it is not okay and that what you say and do sticks with that person for their entire lives!! Disrespect and hatred is more then just a harmless prank between friends or even a problem with one or two people, it has invaded every aspect of society today! It is more then an issue, it has become an EPIDEMIC!!! You see people are DYING because others don't understand what kindness, compassion, sympathy, grace, and empathy are anymore! Hatred and ignorance have become normal and I don't know about you but I cannot handle it any more!! I'm sick of  every time I read the news paper, get on facebook, or watch the news I hear about another teenager end their own life because of the actions of others!! I'm so sick of people turning their heads and pretending this isn't an issue! I don't know about you but I grew up in a home where respect was given freely and taught in every success and failure we had, and where service, kindness, and compassion were and still are apart of every aspect of our lives!

I was taught that my respect should be given to every single person I come in contact with and that regardless of how important how important I become I will never have the right to make someone else earn my trust!!

So no! No, I do not agree that your respect should be earned because respect is and should be given to every person you come in contact with!!

You and every other person have the potential to accomplish all your goals and dreams and to change the world today... but it's up to you whether or not you let both yourself and others accomplish this! You hold the key to a world of happiness and change, my question is this are you going to use that key you were given by GOD to help unlock and open the door to change??

I AM!