Honor – What It Is and What It’s Not – Part One of Five

The word honor gets used a lot, but the true meaning is often misunderstood.

Down through the ages people have fought one another either in order to keep their honor or if they felt they were dishonored.  To me it seems like a lot of ego.

At any rate, that is the history of many cultures and even some today.  The Honor of the Japanese Samurai was often carried to the extreme.  They would fight to the death in a hopeless battle to protect their master’s castle, or commit suicide if they felt they had disgraced their lord.

In the Muslim world, there are “Honor Killings“.  Honor killings are acts of vengeance, usually death, committed by male family members against female family members, who are held to have brought dishonor upon the family.  A woman can be targeted by (individuals within) her family for a variety of reasons, including: refusing to enter into an arranged marriage, being the victim of a sexual assault, seeking a divorce—even from an abusive husband—or (allegedly) committing adultery.  The mere perception that a woman has behaved in a way that “dishonors” her family is sufficient to trigger an attack on her life.

Ok…moving on…

Merriam/Webster has these definitions.  As a noun it means – respect that is given to someone who is admired.  As a verb it means – to regard or treat (someone) with respect and admiration.  That is what we will focus on in this series of articles.

The 1st part of Honor that I want to address is body language.  It has been said that 93% of all communication is body language.  This is so true.

Do you look people in the eyes when they are talking to you or are they wandering all over the room?  Are your arms crossed when someone is trying to teach you something?  That is generally a sign of not being open to what they are saying.  Are you showing honor to that person?  How does it make you feel if they do it to you?

When you are trying to share something with someone, do you use all the right words but the look on your face shows how you really feel?  How is your tone of voice?

Your body language really shows what you are really thinking, regardless of the words you use.  And people will pick up on it.

Today’s suggestions – Look in people’s eyes when they are talking to you or you to them.  Put a smile on your face and keep it there.  Show them honor with your whole body by paying attention to what they are saying.