Credits: Social Media
70-year-old’s ‘most valuable’ life lesson highlights importance of respecting others
As the years go by, you get wiser, and we can learn a lot from the older generation about how to live our lives.
One 70-year-old has shared the ‘most valuable lesson’ he has ever learnt, and it’s something we should all do more.
70-year-old ‘most valuable lesson’ in life
He was stopped in the street by Instagram user Miles Fog, who asks strangers for their life advice and shares it online.
“What would you say is the most valuable lesson that you’ve learned so far?” he asked – and the 70-year-old knew what to say without hesitation.
“The most valuable lesson is what my grandparents and my mother told me. Respect everybody,” he said.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s the garbage man or the CEO of a huge corporation: “Everybody’s the same”.
Not only will this improve the other person’s day, it’s also going to make you feel a whole lot better as a person.
“Titles in my opinion don’t make you great,” he continued. “You have to be great in yourself and respect in people.”
Part of that is learning other people’s cultures and seeing their struggles, which makes you respect them even more.
What respecting others actually means
It’s easy to say you’ll start respecting people more in the future, but what does that actually mean? And how do you do it?
As explained by the Cambridge Dictionary, respect has many parts. It’s treating other people with politeness, honor, kindness and care. It’s showing others admiration when they have good ideas or qualities. It’s accepting other customs and cultures that are different from your own.
Respect is also about integrity: the quality of being honest and having strong moral values that you refuse to change no matter the situation.
Most of us are taught how to respect others as a young child, but there is no harm in reminding yourself every now and again. Take yourself right back to Scouts, where young people are taught the skills they need for life.
According to Girl Scouts of the USA, these are the six basics of being respectful in life:
- Listen to others and be present
- Be thoughtful of other people’s feelings
- Acknowledge others and say thank you
- Address mistakes with kindness
- Make decisions based on what’s right
- Respect people’s boundaries
If you do all of these things, you’re on the right track to being a great human being.
