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Respect is an often neglected, yet critical aspect of personal development.  The practice of being respectful helps to build mutual understanding, friendship, and support. 
   
Self Respect:

It is difficult, if not impossible to respect someone else if you don’t first respect yourself.  By respecting ourselves we set the precedence for everyone else to follow. 

When you don’t respect yourself it shows in everything you say and do.  How you take care of yourself, your emotions, what you accept from yourself and others all outwardly portray what you feel about yourself on the inside.

Attitudes are contagious.  Nobody wants to be around someone who stinks and mopes around all the time.  Mystery loves company, if you spend too much time with someone who is depressed you will become depressed.  The opposite works just as well.  If you spend your time with upbeat fun loving individuals you also will become more positive. 

Have you ever heard that “birds of a feather flock together”?  We attract friends who are like us, and we adopt the attitudes and behavior patterns of the people we spend the most time with.  This is one reason why finding mentors and associating with people who are already where you want to be works so well.       

Respect for those who are down:

Just because someone doesn’t know (or have) something it doesn’t mean they are not worth your time.  You never know what a person is capable of unless you take the time to get to know them.   
  
The man who lives in the mansion on the hill gets respect automatically.  This is due to nothing more than an assumption that he has money.  This assumption may or may not be true.  But, even if the assumption is true it says nothing about his value in society.  His actions have much more impact upon his fellow man.   

A young boy named Christopher was walking home from school one day when he saw a man sleeping in a ditch.  Christopher’s heart was filled with compassion so he stopped to speak to the man.  He learned that the man’s name was Joe.  Joe was once a respected lawyer but he had lost his family in a tragic accident.  He felt like no one was left in the world who loved him.  He no longer cared about his appearance, or anything that money could buy. 

A few days later Christopher approached the ditch and noticed a man in a dark suit standing there.  At first didn’t realize that it was Joe.  Joe walked over to him gave him a great big hug and said “Thank you for showing me that there are still love in this world.”

The respect that Christopher showed changed Joe’s life.  And, Joe has never forgotten the lesson he learned from the little boy who cared when he was down.  Today Joe is the head of an organization  dedicated to getting people back on their feet.
 

Respect for the Law and people who are in authority:

We don’t always like the rules.  We may not even like the people who enforce the rules but, bucking the system and those people who are in charge brings more harm than good.

Even if you don’t like your boss it is a bad idea to show disrespect, especially if you intend to lead others yourself one day.  Just like you set the precedence for others to respect you by respecting yourself, you teach others how they should respect your authority by respecting those with authority over you.