My boyfriend and I had a discussion early on in our relationship about pet peeves. He told me that it takes a lot for him to get mad but the one that will really set him over the edge is disrespect. I never realized how much that is true.

When you first meet someone, you will be courteous and treat them with respect. What if they are homeless? What if they have body odor? How would you treat them then? You may treat them with the same respect but often times when you pass a homeless person sitting on the sidewalk, you continue on with life without stopping. You know they are humans just like us but we may interpret the situation as they chose this life or weren't smart enough with their own life. You don't know their story. We don't give people the amount of respect they deserve based on their jobs, majors, skin color, and lots of other reason.

Why are we so quick to judge others when that may just be who they are? You may not have to like them or agree with them, but why treat them so much worse than anyone else? I recently had the same kind of run in of being disrespected. The worst part is that it is with a group of people that I've known for years.

We were all in a meeting where we all have our respected positions, some are regular members, others have leadership positions. I have a job to do and when I put my input into a situation, everyone in the group dismissed it. Like they didn't hear me. So I repeated myself. I had a regular member tell me that my job didn't matter. That no matter how I did it, it's pretty easy to get done. It may have been a pretty easy fix, but it is still my job and she made me feel like my job wasn't that important. That anyone could do it. That whole day I felt so much worse about myself because I was not given the respect that I deserve. That really anyone deserves.

At the end of the day, we are all human.

We all make mistakes. It's learning for people to forgive each other and move past it. Wouldn't you want the same if that happened to you?

Whether we are black or white, male or female, a CEO or a garbage collector, we are meant to be in a place that is meant for us. Life has brought us to this moment where we are meant to be doing exactly what we are doing right now. That could change in day or week or even a year. But at this moment, we are meant to be what we are doing right now. Instead of putting others down for what we are doing now, we should encourage them and give feedback if it is welcomed.

Listen to Aretha Franklin and RESPECT others decisions and be kind to others.