Respect CAN NOT be "taught"

We must never confuse teaching someone to "fear" us with teaching someone to "respect" us. People have to choose to respect us themselves out of their own free will or it is not respect.

Now just because someone may choose not to respect us doesn't mean that we don't "deserve" their respect. If that individual is a disrespectful person who doesn't know what respect truly is, he or she will never have the ability to give respect to another.

We always want to do our best to keep the power of respect in our hands instead of in the hands of the disrespectful. This is done by showing respect to everyone regardless of whether they offer respect back or not. Never allow the behavior of the disrespectful to infect and guide us. We actually want to try to influence them by example.

Respect can be contagious. If we are consistent enough in expressing it, the tone and manner can calm things down and actually make a disrespectful person feel inappropriate at that moment for behaving disrespectfully.

Keep in mind also that some people who we meet that may be disrespectful may have never been shown respect by their former associates. Some of them may have even been disrespected so much that they may have lost their belief in the use of respect to survive. Our showing them respect may be what they have spent a lifetime waiting for. Let's never miss the opportunity to be that shining light for another person while assuring to never be disrespectful to the respectful.

And THIS, ...is a "way" of the "Warrior's Edge!"