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Chapter 9:

 Respect other people differences

Synopsis

Every person is unique and you will notice that each and every person around you differs significantly from you. This can turn into a challenge to respect individual differences for it is really hard to understand someone else who is very different from you. One of the problems that you may encounter in this kind of situation is that you face difficulties in finding the best way to treat the person. This is primarily because you do not have any experience with the way of living of that person. You don’t know what his or her beliefs in life are.

On the other hand, it is very important for you to learn how to understand the differences between you and your friend, teacher or anyone you meet every day inside the school. This way, you will be able to maintain harmony in your relationship with that person. Instead of criticizing those differences, you should try to accept and embrace them. Whether you agree with his or her beliefs in life or not, still, that person deserves to gain respect. You must use this experience of yours as an instrument to learn & grow as an individual.

The road for this scenario will be full of obstacles but don’t worry. You should not be afraid to take the challenge. All you just need to do is to follow these tips and rest assured that you will be on the right track: Ø Learn more about your culture. Understanding your culture would

help you a lot in understanding the effect of cultural behaviors and beliefs. To learn how to respect individual differences, you must get to know someone from another culture as a person, first. When you deal with a person who is dissimilar from you, try to learn first more about him or her so that you can see and tell what makes him or her not the same with you. It is very important to spend some of your time in talking to him or her. If you are dealing with a small group of persons within a formal situation, you can run a questionnaire so that you can obtain and collect information regarding these people. In that way, it will not be hard for you to determine how those people vary from you & from other members of the group.

• Then, you should proceed on trying to learn and understand other’s culture. It is believed that respect starts by acknowledging the dignity, rights and opinions of each and every one. You can start getting to know people around you by simply asking them some decent questions concerning their traditions and customs. When these people who came from another culture celebrate a special event or holiday, you may consider participating or urging them to share some pieces of information about that particular celebration. This way, you will be more able to understand their culture and their differences from you.
• Learn to admit those things which are against your belief. Showing respect to the differences of a person from you does not mean that you will always say “yes” and agree with them. If there is a variance of opinion which cannot be overcome, you should move past it. Look at it as just a divergence of standpoints and not a subject of good and wrong.
• Share some details regarding your life. As the person or the group of people shared information about their culture and beliefs, you must reciprocate in detail-sharing by simply volunteering and giving information concerning your life. In that way, you can let the person see that you’re willing and determined to build a relationship with him or her.
• Make connections where the similarities appear. You should look for those things that both you and the person with whom you have differences possess. You should try to build on those similarities; come with him or her for a social gathering or you may start discussing some things the two of you enjoy. While you do these things, you would probably see that you and that person are actually more similar than you thought before.

If you will follow all of these tips, you will surely experience how easy it is to understand the differences between you and a certain person. So start doing what you can do today and be happy with the result.