Respect

Recently I attended a memorial service for an elderly man for whom I was caregiver. In the six months I was his caregiver, I grew to love him and care about him very much. His death was very hard for me, and I was pleased that, despite his wishes of being laid to rest in another state, we had a service for him in our town as well.

Everything was beautiful that night. There were beautiful flowers, singers, two preachers, an excellent message by one preacher on forgiveness and second chances; it was perfect… except for one thing. Rather, three things, in the form of immature women.

My children, ages ten and eleven, attended with me. I gave them the choice to stay home or accompany me, and they chose to accompany me. They even allowed me to choose their clothes, and my son wore a shirt he would never wear otherwise. During the entire service, they behaved perfectly. They never fidgeted, whispered, or even made their presence known. My children acted more like adults than these 40 and 50 something women.

This gentleman’s ex-wife and son sat in the first pew, my mom and my kids in the third, and in the second were four of my moms friends- directly in front of me. I get along with them all and they are very funny women. I have a good time when I’m around them. However, there is a time and a place for everything, and that night was not the time nor the place for laughter- at least not during the service.

I am a big believer in respect to all living beings and all property. I believe every human is entitled to respect from birth until their choices and actions warrant otherwise. I also believe death should be respected to the utmost- no matter how the person lived. That night, respect was left at the door.

For the first twenty minutes, three of the women hit each other, joked, albeit softly and played around, much like very young children during a Church service. Directly in front of them, the ex-wife is upset and crying. Directly behind them, I am upset and crying. Finally after twenty minutes, I was at my boiling point and, after catching the eye of the first one who happened to turn around, asked her was this fun for them. I had to ask her three times before she heard me, so low was my voice. She said no, and from then on, didn’t acknowledge me, nor did she joke with the other women. I felt like if they didn’t want to be there, they never should have showed up. We would have understood that they’d rather be elsewhere.

As soon as the service was over, my children and I left. In keeping with my demand for respect for such situations, it was best I left immediately and deal with it all later, and when we were away from the Church.

I think it’s fine in such a situation to laugh and joke and have a good time, but do so before and/or after the service, unless a service specifically dictates otherwise. It’s great to remember the good times as it helps with our grieving process, but there is a time and place for everything.

We have little regard or respect anymore in this world for any form of life and I believe it’s a bad sign of even worse times to come. If we cannot exercise self control and have respect for a life passed for less than an hour during a memorial service, what does that say about us as a people in general?

A little goes a long way, and that night, their few minutes of disrespect for this gentleman went a long way in the wrong direction.

On the other hand, a little bit of respect goes a long way in determining one’s character. If we all would exercise a little respect every day for all living beings, might not the world begin to become a better place for all?

LifeWriter is an author on Writing.Com/ Writing.Com/
which is a site for Writing.Com/ Creative Writing.

She writing.com/main/view_item/user_id/lifewriter writes frequently on issues of child abuse, mental health and animal issues.

Success Belongs To You

You’ve cheated yourself out of a successful lifestyle for years by saying all manner of things block you. And all along you were doing all the blocking. Today is your day for a turnaround as you give yourself permission to make a success of your life.

Motivate yourself to get a hold of this truth now by being open minded and open hearted. As you read on you will learn the secret of how others have begun to turn their lives around. They went from a life of lack and limitation to one of abundance. You can turn your back on lack forever.

1. Give Yourself Permission to Be a Success

Just start to be the successful person you want to be. Listen to CD’s and DVD’s of those whose lifestyle you want to enjoy. Be like them in your feelings. Be like them in your thoughts. Be like them in conversation. Mirror all that they are.

Read their books to get the details of their lifetyle and become like them in every detail. Keep a tight rein on your thoughts to make sure you’re thinking like them.

2. Give Yourself Permission to Do The Things The Successful Do

Begin in small ways to give yourself permission to do the things they do. Go visit the places they go.

Associate with the people they associate with. Use all the available information about them on the TV to hang out in their areas. Bathe yourself in their habits as displayed in videos. As you watch them remember the story of the well know motivational speaker who began with only one video of his role
model.

He lived miles away from him but he had the video. He watched it and watched it. After watching it more than 120 times his audiences said they couldn’t tell the difference between him and his mentor. He sounded the same. He acted the same.

He got the lifestyle of his mentor.

3. Give Yourself Permission to Have Things The Successful Have

As you enter the lifestyle of abundance of your mentor - having first decided that you will do everything legal and ethical needed to get the lifestyle - allow yourself to enjoy your new assets. Don’t be greedy and remember that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Especially make sure you give back to God the first ten percent of all you earn. In this way you acknowledge that He has given you all you’ve got.

Expect to share what you have with others. Give and you will be given even greater levels of success.

Reach down and help others to discover the truth that they too can give themselves permission to have a successful lifestyle.

As you work your new found success plan, keep at Giving Yourself Permission to Be a Success, Giving Yourself Permission to Do The Things The Successful Do, and Giving Yourself Permission to Have Things The Successful Have. Rejoice that your day for a turn-around has arrived as you give yourself
permission to make a success of your life and continue to give success away to others.

Kenneth Little is a writer, teacher, public speaker and the publisher of a re-released classic - in a revealing ebook- that will show you how to get the best of health and wealth out of all your future years.

True success will be yours no matter what your age.
Amazing “How I Became Young at Sixty” brings renewed strength to your body, hope to your mind and increased prosperity to your lifestyle.==>