Respect - for everything...

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Seeing this weeks @ecotrain question of the week initially made me think about people and whom I respect the most in life. While I have plenty of people that I greatly admire and respect, I figured I'd talk more about why I believe living a life of respect - "for all things," is so important to humankind. "What does respect mean to you, what do you respect and why, and how do you demonstrate it?"

When I stop to think about life - I can't help but think of the randomness, beauty, and pure balance that the earth and the ecosystem have given us. It's hard not to reflect in pure appreciation for the earth and all life on it. How can we possibly not respect it? Unfortunately that is what has happened for far too long. The beauty in the world is awe-inspiring. Everything has a purpose. The irony is that if humans vanished off the planet tomorrow I'm not sure the world would miss a beat. As most of us know - this gift of life we've been given along with the beautiful planet to which we're living on all too often goes unappreciated or respected.

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As I continue to reflect on life I have found that the more appreciation and love I show towards others and the world the more I receive back in return. I didn't realize it early on in my life, but this is the karmic balance within the universe. When I was younger, there were the typical times of sadness, depression, and anxiety. Typically these emotions perpetuated more of the same. I hadn't yet realized that when I was putting these feelings out into the universe, I was getting the same in return. When you approach life with passion, appreciation, love, and zest - you are rewarded more than you are taken from. It's really quite magnificent.

When you begin to fully and completely respect all the beauty in the world - you begin to have a hard time harming anything that is a part of it. This is where I find myself now. I cannot kill anything, nor do I want to. I can't even bring myself to kill flies and mosquitoes. What right do I have to decide that something is insignificant enough that I can take its life, no matter how unimportant I view it? I have been back and forth with being a vegetarian and and an omnivore. I don't want to support anything or anyone that harms the planet or the life of the planet. I have learned to eat meat and appreciate / respect the sacrifice of that living being that had it's life taken for me to be nourished, but I one day want to work towards a completely plant based nutritional diet.

There is so much to be in awe over when you pause to appreciate this world we've been given. How can any single human with "awareness " not appreciate it? I hope one day that more and more of humankind awakens to the respect that this planet deserves. Respect for all things... Most of this planet's life was here before us. We need to realize that we should respect the brevity to which we've been in existence compared to the rest of this planet. The more that we appreciate the earth we have been given, the more we can work in harmony with her.

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We are out of balance at this point in time. Consuming too much and not giving back. Taking without thanking. We live in a world of greed, dominated and controlled with power hungry people that want to take and consume more than they need. The day when we as a species can wake up and realize that we should respect our place in the world is the first day that we can begin to work towards a good balance within our planet. We owe this to her. How can we be so naive to think that we can simply take without replenishing, overpopulate, over-consume, and damage the earth without repercussion?

If we don't respect what we have in the beauty and bounty of this planet - - - we'll be forced to respect it in an adverse way. We don't need to get to that point. We can still make a difference but it's going to continue to take a large response. I feel that we are working towards a better place, but we are far from where we need to be. The good news is that in my 38 years of living on this planet; I feel there is more awareness today than at any other point in my life.

And for that - I have a great deal of respect. My continued hope, as always, is that in my own small and unique ways, I can continue to make a difference.

As I stated from the beginning of this post - I wasn't sure how I would respond to this weeks ecotrain question...But as I sit and type this from my back deck of my home - it's hard not to feel respect, appreciation, and love for what this planet has given us. We must respect it and appreciate it. I know I do - and hope that many others come to find and feel the same appreciation and do their part to show the respect to this world that it deserves. All things within it - plant life, animal life, and all of humankind.

Be well my friends...