This week’s Dignity and Respect focus is on communicating respectfully with those around us. Merriam-Webster says to communicate means to “share”, “to impart knowledge of”, “to make known.” The definition of respect is “a relation or reference to a particular thing or situation, an act of giving particular attention, high or special regard (esteem).”
It is so important to think about the words we say and how we communicate with those around us. We live in a world where there is much diversity about values, how we should live our lives, what is important to us as individuals. I’ve learned it is so important to respect these things about people. When communicating respectfully with others it is important to keep these things in mind and to “give particular attention” to how we convey our genuineness to those we are communicating with. A famous quote by Maya Angelou says, “At fifteen life taught me undeniably that surrender, in its place, was as honorable as resistance, especially if one had no choice.” Of course we always have a choice when communicating. Sometimes it is better to try to be open-minded in a conversation than to create debate and make someone feel disrespected for their thoughts and ideas.
Not only is it important to think about the words we say it is also important to think about the tone we use. When we respect others we want to communicate in a way that shows compassion and understanding. A couple more famous quotes by Maya Angelou I found interesting and go well with this topic are “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but will never forget how you made them feel.” When someone has communicated with me I hope they walk away feeling respected and feel like someone was really interested in what they had to say. The other quote says, “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes a human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.” If our words and our tone don’t match we are risking not communicating respectfully.
Hopefully this blog has been helpful in learning a little about communicating respectfully.
