travel with kindness

when we travel, we meet many people – from the folks working at the airport to the person driving your cab to the bartender mixing you a drink to a server bringing your appetizer to a ranger working at a tourist stop.  and if you treat each of these people with kindness and with the same respect you expect, then your trip will be a smoother, more pleasant, more rewarding, more enlightening experience.  so when the doorman at your hotel opens the door for you, say “thank you, sir” – and when your travel guide finishes your 2 hour tour through the Sedona red rocks, say thank you and give him a tip – and if you have to valet your car or store your bags at the hotel, then say thank you and give them a tip.  this is what you are supposed to do and this is how you are supposed to act.  be thankful for the many people you come across in your travels and be kind to them in every way.  they will treat you better and it just feels good to be kind to others.  also, you will surprise them because they are not used to people being kind back to them.

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respect

respect is a funny thing, especially when you view it from your own perspective.  it is easy to give respect to someone, but how do you gain respect for yourself.  you go your entire life looking for respect, but the reality is you must earn a person’s respect – whether that person is your spouse, your child, your parent or your boss.  in each one on one relationship, you must establish a sense of respect -more easily done with personal relationships.  with personal relationships, you can follow your instinct on how to act and respect will follow.  but in professional relationships, it is harder to judge when you have earned a person’s respect.  oftentimes, it is not clear if your boss or your subordinate respects you.  and sometimes you realize that you are not respected as much as you believed in the work environment.  therefore, the only path one must take in the work environment is to do what you think is right and act the way you feel is the right way –and if respect comes from your actions and words, then so be it.  on the other hand, if respect is not earned by your actions, then so be it as well.  in other words, you cannot control whether a person respects you or not, so don’t dwell on the idea of “does this person respect me”.  that is not for you to worry about – you can only control your own actions and results.  you cannot control earning respect from others.  you might do every action with the greatest of success –and still respect might not follow.  don’t look for respect from others and only look for respect from yourself.

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