Respect

This week, I feel like talking about respect.
Respect is a weird thing.
You can lose respect for stupid crap you can't help, or you can gain it for similar reasons.
Most people are taught to respect authority, the elderly and their parents.
Then there are those that respect no one and act like you have to earn it.

Myself, I give you respect as long as you treat me with the same.

I have some issues, which I'll talk about in  a later blog topic. These issues have caused people to treat me with diminishing respect.

An ex of mine lost respect for me because I hit a rough patch with my PTSD.
She had no problem with the PTSD itself, but I was being adversely affected by stress of my living situation and horrible job.
Suddenly she went cold and just shoved me out of her life.
And, hey, that's her right.
But before that she'd been happy, we hung out and watched shows, read to each other, went on lunch dates...after...it was different. She went cold on me.

I broke down and showed weakness and she lost respect for me.

I use this as an example because someone else might not have lost respect.  They might have understood and helped.

And no, she's not a bad person for this.
She just has a different respect system than I do.

That's the point.  Respect is a system we build ourselves from input we get as kids.
Every one's respect system is different.
Mental issues add to that, and I'll touch on that later, but here I'll just say that there are conditions that cause people to have a very black and white view of things.

Respect is a very personal thing, I suppose.  Something we form as we grow.
It's something I'm interested in.
How people view and use respect in their lives.

I was taught to respect my elders.
But what if they are not niece people?  Do they still deserve respect?
Strange things that pop into my head.

Being a priority

One of the things I find important in a relationship is being a priority to the other person.
And by priority, I do not mean center of attention or that person's world.
Rather, do they make an effort to show you they care? To make you feel wanted? Appreciated?
If you are with a person and they say they want to be with you, but don't act like it, leaving you feeling lonely despite their presence...then what's the point?
You can talk about it with them.
But what if you do that and they just throw it back at you with "It goes both ways." when the problem is specifically that you do DO IT, but they don't.
Take being apart.
What if the on my time they will text you or talk to you is when you make the first move?
But they insist it goes both ways.
How can it go both ways if you are the one constantly making first contact?
Do you even enter their minds?
This might seem silly or minor, but what if it's a systemic problem that has been there for years?  And they refuse to change or acknowledge their actions (or lack thereof)?
Like they are only with you to not feel alone, but by their actions that is what they are doing to you.
Personally, I have no clue.

And thus, it began...

This is my first real foray into blogging.
I'm not sure this medium is for me, but there are things on my mind I feel like slapping down.
This blog will cover much ground and several topics.
Within the next few weeks I plan on tackling some things on my mind,  and maybe have some people I know share some experiences.
We shall see!