Why organization is spelled R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
A Place for Everything
Having a place for your belongings, putting them back in that place, showing up on time and being present are all issues of organization. Why are we so obsessed with organization, as culture, in recent years? On the surface it just seems like, well, who wouldn’t want to be organized?! It is the “right” thing to do.
But why?
I think that it boils down to respect. Yes, when you are organized you save time, money and energy but even that is about respect for time, money and energy – your own and other people’s.
- Image via Wikipedia
When you have a place for an item you are respecting it and its place in the world, the way it has served you well (that computer we use 12 hours a day, the printer, the coat). When you put something back in its place you respect the person who is going to follow after you and need that item.
People get so angry (ok – sometimes I do too!) when a computer breaks down or a printer – we can’t believe it! It has worked perfectly all these years! Exactly. No one ever stops to appreciate how it has always worked – all these years.
One instance of ill-repair and all respect goes out the door? Do we do that to people? Well…sometimes. Uh oh.
People and things need respect in order to show up. Treat the clothing or computer badly and they can’t perform their function. Treat people without respect and the relationship goes into disrepair. When we care for the things and the people in our world we add value and can feel we left the world in a better state than we found it.
Respect creates a smoother, and dare I say, more organized, life.
Aadil Palkhivala says, “Yet, do not respect because you will attain these results, but because you know that being respectful helps you grow as an individual. Eventually, we respect for no reason, but just because that is who we are.”
Posted in 
Tags: 
