As is my tendency with these essays, I went looking for a quotation about respect. I was talking about this essay with my girlfriend and she found the following:
"He that respects himself is safe from others. He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce."
-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
It is an interesting sentiment, and one that I think is very true. While we train our bodies to defend ourselves against physical attacks, we are training our minds in self-respect to defend ourselves against emotional attacks.
Respect comes in two forms. The first form is in non-destructive interaction. In respecting oneself this includes avoiding negative thinking and maintaining your sense of humor when things do not go the way you might like. An example would be not listening to the parts of your mind that say "You can’t..." or "Why bother..." These are destructive interactions within ones own psyche and should be purged or at least ignored as best you can. This requires a huge amount of self-awareness and strength, but it is at the core of the ‘spirit’ we refer to when we say ‘Jeong sil Il do Ha sa Bul Seong.’
The second form of respect is constructive reinforcement. Respecting oneself in this way is really a mental state to achieve. This state includes maintaining a positive attitude and recognizing your own strengths and improvements. For example I recognize that improvement takes time, but I can do better pushups today than I could when I started training a year and a half ago. I have passing familiarity with three different weapons and have much better reaction time than when I started. I know that, barring serious injury, I will make it to black belt because I know I can continue to improve. When you take this self-respect to other areas of life you tend to be a happier person. You see your weaknesses as opportunities for improvement and you know that improvement is possible.
Our respect for others is a key component in our respect for ourselves. When we extend courtesy and respect to our juniors we respect where we came from.
"The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Respect is the key to teaching others. When we teach others we reinforce the things we have worked so hard to achieve. To let those skills sit unshared in your own mind, not strengthening them by teaching is as disrespectful to ones accomplishments and self as letting them wane from under use.
We respect our seniors because they have blazed the trail before us. They are where we aspire to be and by respecting them we respect our own future. It is easy to forget how hard they have worked to achieve the things they have, especially when we work beside them day in and day out. By developing the habits of being respectful to others we can better be respectful to ourselves.