Subject: What I Have Learned About Respect and Courtesy at UMAC
What I Have Learned About Respect and Courtesy at UMAC
I find that, for me, the classes and the way of being at UMAC paint a picture of what respect and courtesy look like. Respect and courtesy seem, to me, to be two concepts that have slowly, almost, imperceptively, become devalued over time in our Western culture. They seem to have become replaced with concepts like standing up for yourself and getting ahead.
One of the online definitions of respect that I found is 'a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities or achievements'. I found it next to impossible to find a definition of respect that didn't start with the phrase 'a feeling of', somehow implying that we are only required to respectful when we feel like it.
I find that, for me, the classes and the way of being at UMAC paint a picture of what respect and courtesy look like. Respect and courtesy seem, to me, to be two concepts that have slowly, almost, imperceptively, become devalued over time in our Western culture. They seem to have become replaced with concepts like standing up for yourself and getting ahead.
One of the online definitions of respect that I found is 'a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities or achievements'. I found it next to impossible to find a definition of respect that didn't start with the phrase 'a feeling of', somehow implying that we are only required to respectful when we feel like it.
Then I looked up courtesy. The online definition that I found was 'the showing of politeness in one's attitude or behavior towards others'. I would agree with that definition. The problem, though, the way I see it, is that if your attitude is, in part, based on this idea of being respectful when you feel like it, then your behavior may or may not be polite. "Self centered' is a phrase that comes to mind.
So, I went back to the definitions of respect and I found one I liked better, from Urban Dictionary, of all places, which is not rated G, by the way. This person defined it this way:
"It means valuing each others points of views. It means being open to being wrong. It means accepting people as they are. It means not dumping on someone because you're having a bad day. It means being polite and kind always, because being kind to people is not negotiable. It means not dissing people because they're different to you. It means not gossiping about people or spreading lies".
That's the one. That's the definition that I like. Inherent value. Accepting people the way they are. Being kind is not negotiable. Then to carry it out to courtesy, a person's attitudes and behaviors with then be solid and consistent.
So how does this all tie in to what I've learned on the subject at UMAC? Well, for starters, these are concepts that are valued enough at UMAC that we are constantly called to question them and work on them. The classes at UMAC really paint a picture, both for me and for my children, of what respect and courtesy are when they are actually being played out, which they are, unapologetically, at all times.
To put it in the Christian terms that I grew up with, the apostle, Paul, said 'Submit to one another'. We, in our modern Western culture, somehow have been swayed to think that if we humble ourselves to another person, that we are somehow devaluing ourselves or offering ourselves up as inferior. At UMAC, there is always opportunity to tweak that way of thinking. It's really great to be really clued in to what a more powerful choice being genuinely respectful is. It does have a positive effect on communication and dynamics with other people. And in addition to that, it also teaches you to be respectable, non-negotiably kind and consistently accepting of yourself. Who couldn't use more of that?
So how does this all tie in to what I've learned on the subject at UMAC? Well, for starters, these are concepts that are valued enough at UMAC that we are constantly called to question them and work on them. The classes at UMAC really paint a picture, both for me and for my children, of what respect and courtesy are when they are actually being played out, which they are, unapologetically, at all times.
To put it in the Christian terms that I grew up with, the apostle, Paul, said 'Submit to one another'. We, in our modern Western culture, somehow have been swayed to think that if we humble ourselves to another person, that we are somehow devaluing ourselves or offering ourselves up as inferior. At UMAC, there is always opportunity to tweak that way of thinking. It's really great to be really clued in to what a more powerful choice being genuinely respectful is. It does have a positive effect on communication and dynamics with other people. And in addition to that, it also teaches you to be respectable, non-negotiably kind and consistently accepting of yourself. Who couldn't use more of that?
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