Respect for Others and Self

Respect for Others and Self
Naturally, we admire certain people based on their qualities, achievements, performance and abilities. These feelings describe respect. Based on one’s attitudes and behavior towards other individuals, he or she may attract or earn respect. Relationships involving a number of individuals are well managed through respect. The success in our environment regarding principles and values is a pointer of the many benefits respect achieves. Various queues present respect. These include the words, actions, and gestures. It is especially difficult to show respect for others when their actions, words or gestures point towards rudeness. I recently had an encounter with such a challenge. The incident took place in a hotel where after making an order, the waitress brought a different meal to the table. I responded by informing her it was the wrong order. Although as much as I politely insisted that there was an error in the ordering, the waitress became more aggressive, thereby attracting the attention of others. I opted to pay for the meal and apologized for the inconvenience caused. My principles on respect and the need to respect others mainly influenced this decision, especially when in a crisis, disagreement or cases of confrontation. Being disrespectful would only have escalated the problem. The situation helped me exercises self-control and self-restraining to achieve the better relationship with the same individual in future. This incident made me realize how much I value not only self-respect but that for others as well.

Restraining form engaging and apologizing represent self- control and discipline in upholding what I believe in and value. Additionally, I realized the benefits of respect in promoting a conducive environment and better relationship between individuals. Consequently, respect significantly contributes to positive self-esteem and earning respect from others.
Strength to Persevere
The society upholds the principle of perseverance. Consequently, through the community, much emphasis is talked about regarding the need to be hard working and remain motivated even in challenging situations. The culture of perseverance is encouraged in our everyday life through the contribution of the church, the schools, and the media. As an individual with a high degree of perseverance, I attribute it to my dreams and vision. I dream of being successful and this helps me set goals, mission, and vision towards achieving the success I envision. Additionally, I have a sense of purpose, which I remind myself every single day. I identify myself as a dedicated person who is ready to take up challenges with the vision of success. I focus on my achievement and look for opportunities where I can achieve more or do better. Importantly, I have developed the habit of accounting for the failures and successes. Not long ago my boss instructed other employees and me to prepare a presentation for the ongoing projects within our department. It was indeed quite challenging to balance time between the daily duties and schedule time for the project. Most of my colleagues demonstrated a little contribution to the project owing to tiredness. Although my colleagues offered little help, I took it upon myself to see the project become a success. Together with a few members, we developed a compelling presentation two nights before the deadline. I remember the satisfaction I felt seeing the boss commending the work. A contribution of the skill is the influence of the surrounding environment and the people. Had all the members withdrawn from the challenge, it is highly likely that I would not have achieved the success. The importance of encouragement is indeed necessary for culturing the degree of perseverance in an individual. The team environment is enough motivation to keep pursuing the desired goals. In another perspective, the motivation is an outcome of fear of failure. I could not imagine failing to meet the deadline. This thought made me put in more effort.
Maintenance of Integrity
According to ethics, integrity is being honest and truthful. It encompasses the moral uprightness in an individual. Much as it is challenging to remain truthful in all instances, I take pride in my abilities in practicing integrity. I associate it to the performance of simple tasks such as keeping a promise and being timely in carrying out the assigned duties. Managing my routine practices also greatly contribute to developing the principle of being truthful to oneself. Organization provides me with a connection to my environment, thereby identifying my progress and establishing the procedures in achieving the objective. I stay focused on my objectives by writing down what I need to do, and how I plan on executing the task. Socially, I interact with people I admire regarding their personality and performance. I manage to motivate myself by reading books and other relevant materials that engage my mind to remain focused and pursue the right direction. A colleague at work was facing personal problems and decided not to show up. Instead of reporting to the supervisor, the colleague instructed me to cover up for him until he resolves the problems. Instead of covering up for him by lying to the supervisor, I went ahead and explained the situation to the supervisor whom to my surprise was very understanding. As much as my decision to inform on my colleague missing work upset him, I strongly believe it was the right thing and an observance of the principle of integrity. Through the experience, I realized that integrity is a personal choice. We all know what is right to do and only avoid it fearing for the outcomes it may bring. It is also of one’s principal actions, beliefs, methods, and measures. I responded to the situation with the belief that it was most appropriate to inform the person in charge. It follows one’s faith in taking the action of choice in the belief that it is the most suitable choice.
Openness to Feedback
It is easy, especially in our community, to identify an open person. An individual who possesses this character is found to be free when accepting new ideas, knowledge, perspectives, and experiences. As a skill, it is very efficient in managing everyday life bearing in mind people are different, and thus, their varying opinions. My success in being an open person developed from habits that I managed to cultivate along the way. For starters, I practice listening skills. Usually, I listen keenly to peoples’ suggestions before airing my opinion. I carefully observe current trends, news, and information, thus, enriching my knowledge. I also developed the culture of reading widely and participating in challenging situations. In light of this discussion, I recall an event where being positive to feedback contributed to my growth. The head of our department challenged as to come up with an idea to improve the output at work. The task involved writing a 10 page summary of the ideas and suggestions. After completion, the head of the department called us to a meeting where he invited other members of the board to assist him to analyze our ideas. The panel openly addressed the points of weakness, approval, and improvement in every individual’s suggestion. Although I firmly believed to have presented the most genius of ideas, most of them were ruled weak and lacked clarity. However, through their criticism and suggestions, I was able to adjust their recommendation and later on my project was implemented in the department. The experience made me realize some key attributes that directly associate with being open-minded. Taking risks as a way of trying new things is an act of being receptive to change. Positive curiosity encourages one to try out something with the imagination of success. Being open also enables one to handle criticism and positively accept the opinion of others. Consequently, it reduces negativity and being quick to judge allowing one to accept the outcomes. It is my view that it develops courage and motivation.
Work Ethic
Hard work and diligence are important contributors to appropriate work ethics. A person who observes work ethics has a strong character. This individual hardly ever diverges from his or her goals. He or she remains focused even when circumstances threaten otherwise. As a person who closely associates with the principle, one of my important attributes is integrity. Integrity works in fostering trusting relationships with my colleagues. I carry within me a sense of responsibility that helps me put my best foot forward. Additionally, I am self-disciplined and focused on my duties and goals. As a teacher and counselor in a community counseling program, I experience a situation that questions my work ethics, especially on time management and performance in these fields. The community program recently admitted a new member, and as a mentor, I was scheduled to meet him during one of the weekly sessions. During the meeting, I noticed the member had difficulties in understanding and comprehending information. Further examination revealed that he was an immigrant from a non-English speaking country. Thus, being my responsibility, I requested by the management to provide a suitably trained translator to assist in the communication problem. Through teamwork, we as the organization managed to reach to this member and initiate a recovery process. Work ethics depends on how important we attach ourselves to our responsibilities. It is the driving force in ensuring that all the tasks are performed with a degree of perfection. It directs on the decision and influences our thoughts in the performance of duties. Hard work and diligent individuals take challenges positively and failure is only a result of having tried all possible solutions without success.