Did you know that the song “RESPECT” has two versions? This
song was actually written by Otis Redding in 1965, but the Queen of Soul Aretha
Franklin brought it to life in 1967. Otis’s version of this song is a plea from a
desperate man who will give his woman anything she wants as long as he gets his
respect when he comes home. Franklin’s
version is a declaration from a strong confident woman, who demand respect
because she know who she is and that she
has everything her man could want. So, whose version tells the true story of
respect? Respect can come in many shapes and forms. I believe respect manifest
itself from authenticity and intention.
My mom was a poised, confident woman. She was very classy in everything that she
did. She was not a loud person. Very
seldom did she yell at us. She just said
what she had to say and that was that. Her yay was yay and her nay was nay. She
spoke softly and carried a big stick. The big stick was respect. With mom, free
will was always a given. She never made
statements such as “if you don’t pick up your toys, I’m going to spank
you”. Her statement would be simply
“pick up your toys or get a spanking” and because of previous experience of
knowing that her yay meant yay and her nay meant nay we simply had a choice
from that point on. My mom’s demeanor demanded respect from us. Her intentions
were motivated by love and she knew who she was and the position she held.
In today’s society, it’s easy to find yourself trying to
earn respect by doing or by giving a part of yourself away. Respect is something that you should not have
to try and make happen. Knowing yourself
and just being who you are should be enough.
Learn to relax, be yourself, in the words of Dr. Seuss “those
who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.
"What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you
say." – Ralph Waldo Emerson
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