How I categorize fear and respect

As we hear the words themselves, fear and respect seem to hold no similarities. But still, the discussion of their confusion remains the same. The questions always arise; where is the margin between them or rather, how are they related? In my opinion, fear and respect are similar feelings, yet not the same.

From what I believe, fear is an emotion that is generated by recognizing that someone has the ability to harm you, either physically or mentally. Respect, in contrast, forms when one believes that the other is capable of admiring people or rather, has done something to obtain love and trust. However, the similarities between these lies on the receiving end. Both the feared and respected consider themselves to be in command and are right in doing so. They believe they are of higher stature than the others and usually get what they want. Even so, there lies a difference in their personality. The feared one is generally the arrogant one while the respected is confident.

Fear and respect is actually quite related, yet far apart. People follow both the feared and the respected but the difference lies in people’s willingness. Respected people are followed voluntarily whereas there is no choice but to follow the feared ones. Some believe that respect is gained by dishing out fear.  I believe that this effect of fear is not respect, just a response to the perceived fear; a false respect, if you will. But, this false respect is only present as long as the fear is in attendance. When the fear is lost, this false respect dissolves with it.

Respect actually contains minor fear in itself. The level of fear might be different or even the feeling of it, but it is always there. On the contrary, the feared ones are never feared and respected by the same person simultaneously; although, it is possible for different people to fear and respect the same person at the same time. For instance, Osama Bin Laden, who was feared by many, was still respected by most of the Muslims around the globe.

How I differentiate arrogance and confidence

Many a times, people confuse themselves with arrogance and confidence. What are their similarities? How do we differentiate between them? Just why do people mistake between them? The divergence between confidence and arrogance has been a long running debate between people. Many believe that both of them are more or less the same whereas others believe there are significant differences between them. I, on the other hand, believe that people’s perception characterize confidence and arrogance.

The necessity to differentiate between confidence and arrogance arose mainly because they hold similarities between them. Confidence and arrogance both involve being in one’s abilities. Both the confident and arrogant are aware of their areas of strength; both of them are optimistic about their results, and mostly acquire success. But, one’s confidence becomes arrogance when he/she start being ignorant of their own weakness and feel a need to brag about their strengths. Both the confident and arrogant know they’re skilled, but the arrogant only feels smart when everyone else feels stupid whereas the confident feels competent from the inside.

Actually, arrogance and confidence are both in the same state of mind but in different degrees. Still, there exists a fine line between them. Confident people prove their competence by their actions, not by their words. If people find themselves constantly trying to impress others around them by stating their self confidence, they have clearly crossed the line into arrogance. Buddhism also states that arrogance makes people insecure whereas confidence gives people peace of mind. Arrogant people strive to be correct all the time. They neglect other’s ideas and opinions, without considering the fact that it might be true, just to prove that they are the best. A confident person says “I can do it!” whereas an arrogant person says “No one else can do it!” Confidence attracts followers whereas arrogance drives people away.

The mistake made between arrogance and confidence can be mutual. An arrogant person can be reckoned as a confident one or a confident considered as arrogant. As I mentioned before, it really depends in people’s perception. When a person says “I’m not arrogant, I just happen to be right”, some believe it to be self-confident whereas some think its plain arrogance. Consequently, the same person can be found to be both arrogant and confident, at the same time, by different people.