Respect Peace and Happiness

I recently facilitated a conversation and & communications workshop in a small rural town in Upstate New York entitled, "How to Be Well Liked and Have Good Friends." Five older women from the town attended and it lasted for eight weeks. I learned something quite important by time this course had ended. I believe the wisdom of my participants has inspired me to write the following thoughts:


In order to have peace we must first learn to respect one another. Agreement, acceptance and honor are secondary. Respect means acknowledging and validating another's person, wishes and expressions. Agreeing, accepting, and honoring may follow mutual respect. This establishes the clear and open connection necessary for communication without which no meaningful or productive relationship exists. Only after mutually acknowledging the person, wishes and expressions of another can a productive communication exist. Respectful disagreement, rejecting, and dishonoring is necessary at times in order for relationships to grow. As individuals engage in rational and reasonable exchanges the relationship becomes more functional, directed and productive. The greater wisdom however is exhibited in the suitable manner in which one expresses disagreement, rejection and dishonoring of another’s idea, more than in the profound and eloquent display of one’s own idea. This is good judgment, and should always be preferred. For if a good idea is poorly presented and ill received of what value is it to anyone? Since it is through the understanding of mutual person, wishes and expressions that continuous cooperation may happily exist which enables many joyous possibilities to flow out of peaceful interpersonal relationships. Love life and truth.

-Wildfeather