You may know someone very well and still not know everything that lives inside them.
Their history.
Their private fears.
The way the world has landed on their body and mind over time.
The old pattern is to treat a partner or friend like an extension of yourself.
You talk over them.
You decide what they must be feeling.
You dismiss what matters to them because it is not what would matter to you.
Respect is the simple yet powerful choice to remember
This person is not mine.
They are their own universe.
It sounds like asking before assuming.
Listening when they say something is important to them.
Avoiding the small digs and casual contempt that wear people down.
You can still disagree.
You can still set limits.
But the tone under it all says
Your inner world matters to me.
I take you seriously.
Love, here, is letting the other person feel like a full human in your presence,
not a background character in your story.