The climate for maintaining positive relationships is being severely tested these days. Broken families, peer ridicule and racism are primary forces that continue to divide us. It's no wonder that many children lack self-respect and the ability to respect others. Attitudes are slowly drifting toward a "survival of the fittest" mentality, as if people were playing this giant game of "KING OF THE HILL". We are seeing too many kids strike out in anger or speak out in critical words. Thereís the growing phenomenon of "bullying" or excessive teasing, creating explosive situations. We need a national movement for elevating respect and conflict reduction skills. Only the exercise of individual discipline, renewed honor and shared responsibility will lead the way to a healthier nation.
We can build a climate for respect - CELEBRATE! People need to be celebrated. We need to celebrate the dignity, uniqueness and good efforts of each individual. Everybody has some "gift" or useful talent. We need to see the "potential" in people and offer them some guidance to reach that point. Everyone can practice using "positive words".
We can build a standard for respect - CHALLENGE! The time has come for all of us to speak up for a higher standard, where "caring" is honored and discussed. We can decide to challenge the status quo and not let the "standard" slide any lower. We can celebrate the showing of restraint in daily communications. We can teach giving acceptance as a gift, even to those who are called "undeserving". This doesn't mean we accept the unwise actions of everyone - we should challenge every poor choice. But we need to underlie our comments with some grace or forgiveness from the past. Conflict resolution means letting go of our anger.
We can build a movement for respect - CREATE! We will not change the world by ourselves, we need to join with others who care and create a giant momentum for change. We can create projects like PRIMARY COLORS TM or POSITIVE WORDS and we can ask for parents and civic leaders to join our efforts. We can see other people as "complimentary" to us, as colors blending into a beautiful painting. It is time for caring people to find common ground and press hard for change. Making the decision to "get involved" and staying committed to the battle often makes the difference in the quality of our world.
Every person can lift up the dignity of people. By celebrating each person, by deciding to talk things out during heated moments, we can make a lasting difference in the level of fighting. The voices in our world that speak up for restraint and respect are valuable. Leaders of any age can rise up to challenge the trends and give us some hope for a better way. Any one of us can get off track, we can be misled or become callous and uncaring. As we face the current national crisis with the lack of respect and positive conflict resolution, it will take courageous people to show us the way...people who know the value of building a new meaning for the term, "KING OF THE HILL".
