I have been dancing around the topic of respect for weeks now, doing the stop-go two-step…which is as good a way as any to describe how life has been for many of us in this current situation. At last though, I’ve got myself into gear and am ready to go.

Respect inhabits and enLightens all our relationships—our relationship with ourselves, with others, with all the creatures and kingdoms of Mother Earth, with Gaia herself.

Respect opens the door to so much: empathy, compassion, kindness, forgiveness, peace….and love.

Having respect for yourself (and this is where it all starts) means you honour you and your journey. If you make a mistake and you stumble, you show respect for yourself when you pick yourself up and start over; if you do something you said you’d never do again, you are able to forgive yourself and commit to respecting and honouring your original promise. When you uncover a previous blindspot in your life, you are able to see what you couldn’t before—and why; this new knowledge and understanding leads to respect for the choices you have made for your own learning, and this leads to respect of self and the Truth of Who You Are.

Having respect for others means you are able to honour them and their life choices. These choices may not necessarily be the ones you would make, but then this person’s life journey is not yours – it’s theirs. When you can step back from emotional reaction to another and their actions (or opinions), you are giving yourself the space to take a deep breath and to allow them to be Who They Are. This is respect.

Having respect for the creatures of the planet means honouring their right to exist in peace – be it on the land, in the air, in the water, the lakes, streams and rivers or the depths of the oceans. They all have hearts and lungs, just like we do…let us honour them and the space they need for their breathing room. This is respect.

Having respect for Gaia means honouring her cycles, honouring the life-sustaining elements, honouring her bounty and the vastness of her gifts to us. It means being in gratitude and awe and wonder for all this, and taking only what we need to sustain life. This is respect.

These unprecedented times are offering us all the opportunity to practise respect and awaken ourselves to where we do not feel or demonstrate respect—for ourselves or for others. Let us make the commitment to become aware of what we need to change in ourselves. When we make these changes, the effects ripple out into the consciousness of every single person on the planet. Right now, we have this glorious opportunity to place respect at the foundation of our coming together to co-create the changes so many of us are yearning to see and experience.

If you want a really topical analogy, respect is like a good virus that multiplies until eventually it takes over its host (that’s you and me) and from us it then spreads to others….until this blessed infection reaches every single organism on the planet. But it starts with you (and me).

The image is the energy portal of the Deva of having Respect for All. Just allow the Deva’s energies to flow easily and effortlessly into your heart. There is more information on the Deva and this portal