Respect is Oxygen

Respect is Oxygen

The other day, I was traveling to Thane for my psychology lectures and a few meetings.
On both legs of the journey – going and coming – I witnessed two separate arguments break out in the train. Anyone who travels by local trains in Mumbai knows this scene all too well. It’s familiar. Almost expected.

The strange part?
The fights weren’t about anything memorable.
Not about something serious. Not about something that actually mattered.
If you asked them later what started it, I doubt they’d even remember.

And yet, just when it seemed like things could end… someone threw in another line.
A jab. A taunt. Something just to keep it going.

Not to win, But just to not lose.

And it got me thinking.
Why?
Why do people fight when there’s nothing to fight for?

The Fight Isn’t About the Other Person

Maybe… it’s because they don’t feel respected in their own lives.

Not by the people around them.
And more importantly, not by themselves.

So when an opportunity shows up to feel seen, to feel like they’ve “won” something, they grab it.
Even if that “win” is meaningless. Even if it’s just yelling at a stranger in a train.

Because what they’re really fighting…
Isn’t the person in front of them.
It’s the person inside.

Respect Is Oxygen

As much as we talk about self-worth and confidence being internal, the truth is:
We’re all human.
And self-esteem, at least a good part of it, comes from how we’re perceived by others.

We want to feel like we matter. Like we’re respected.
When that’s missing, we start reaching for respect in whatever form we can find. Even if it means forcing someone else to feel small, just so we feel slightly bigger.

And that’s the saddest part.

The Real Win

You want to change someone’s day or even someone’s life?

Make them feel seen.

Genuinely respect them. Appreciate the good they do, even if it’s small.
Let them feel like they’ve won your kindness, your patience, your grace.
And truly offer it, not as a favor, but because they deserve it just as much as anyone.

Because the best thing you can do for someone…

Is help them win And be genuinely happy that they did. True joy is in lifting others.