January has come and gone, which means your New Year’s resolution probably has too. Mine has. If yours hasn’t, I’m genuinely impressed and you should be too. It can be difficult to keep a resolution, especially as a college student when your classes change for the semester and a new routine is needed.
Every year we tend to make the same resolutions, therefore we don’t get very creative with them- typically they are along the lines of being healthier, eating better, exercising more, and being a happier person in general by doing different things we enjoy. (Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com)
I use the New Year to evaluate how far I have come during the past year. I ask myself, what can I do to make myself better, and how can I improve myself to become the best version of me? What is missing? It may sound cliché, but I believe it is an important thing to do.
When thinking about the New Year and our resolutions, how many of us question whether we are respectful? Would you make it a resolution?
If a friend were to describe you, would “respectful” be one of the words they would use? It is a quality that can be easily forgotten, but it is a very important quality to have, particularly as it is recognized by others. Over the winter holiday, and since I have returned to college, I have realized there is a lack of respect* towards others in our society. Being noisy late at night when others are sleeping, talking rudely to professors, not returning someone else’s borrowed item, expecting others to clean and tidy up after your mess, walking into the path of a person and expecting them to stop and move, and acknowledging someone but not bothering to hold the door open for another 3 seconds, instead letting it slam on the face of those behind them… these are just a few examples. You’re recognizing some, aren’t you?
When we are young we are told to respect our parents, teachers, peers, and the place we are in, repeatedly. So why is it that when we get older we stop being respectful? Can we blame it on the media or today’s song lyrics? Are they giving the wrong impression that respect isn’t cool or necessary anymore; we have freedom to act the way we want to, right? But it is important to respect others.
With a lack of respect in today’s society, it is recognizable when someone truly is respectful. Be that person who is. Say “thank you”, and “please”, and acknowledge those that go out of their way to help you. Be respectful.
“Treat others the way you would like to be treated.”
(Gif Courtesy of Giphy.com)
*Respect – a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements taken from the Oxford Dicionary.