I had an internal debate on where I would go with my next post. Covering recent events and giving my take on them could have been the route I chose, by why? That would make me just like the hundreds (thousands?) of others who do this activity daily. I’m not saying that this won’t occur in the future, if inspiration strikes and if I truly have something to say other than spewing the same rhetoric that you could pick up from any number of blogs or news sites. I want this to be more meaningful. I want to open minds to new ways of thinking. And I don’t want to continue to drive people apart by focusing on opposing views. I want to bridge the gap and try to help people see that its ok to have different views, but we will all be better off if we learn to set that aside and work together. And for this post, I decided to instead focus on what I consider to be a realistic assessment of where we stand as a society today.
I can only speak from my perspective on things. That really applies to every person, honestly. Also, I’ve only been on this Earth a little over 30 years, so I definitely don’t think that I know all the problems in the world. I don’t even believe my opinions are right all the time, and I gladly accept feedback from people that help me expand my way of thinking. One thing I think we can all agree on is that we as a nation are divided. Actually, not even a nation, it seems to be a common problem with all of humanity. We oppose others who are different than us. Differences of political parties, religions, lifestyles and skin color are among the biggest issues that people focus on and to use to discriminate against each other.
Maybe it’s in our genes. After all, our ancestors way back thousands of years ago were a tribal people who killed anyone who they encountered outside of their group. Maybe it’s just the size of our “group.” Maybe our nation is too big. Again, back to our ancestors, their tribes functioned best when they were smaller. Most were relatives and, in those times, that seemed to work out for everyone. But that isn’t really an option in this day and age. I mean, can you really imaging ONLY hanging out with your family for the rest of your life? Who would run the Internet? And cable? And set up cell phone service or build your car? Nothing against my family, but I don’t think that among the bunch of us, we’d be able to figure out most of these things in a thousand years. And that probably goes for most families. So how do we fix things?
If we’re going to survive in this larger “tribe” with all of these great modern-day technological advances that we love so much, it would be wise for us to realize that it takes people from different backgrounds applying their individual talents and working together to make things better for everyone involved. It means learning to accept that not everyone is created equally. (Oh man, I may have just triggered everyone that I know. 😶) Some people are born with certain advantages, but nobody is born with none; it’s a perception thing, everybody can find a way to contribute if they just apply themselves. And there is nothing wrong with that!
Unfortunately, there will always be individuals who put people down for being different. My suggestion? Get those people out of your life. When you surround yourself with negativity, it tends to draw in more negativity. Same applies for positivity. I’ve always been a “glass half-full” kind of guy, looking for a silver lining in all situations. That comes easy for me, but I understand not everyone is like that. I accept that they see things differently, and I offer suggestions based on my life experiences that I think will help them with their struggles. I try not to judge them for not being able to deal with life the way I do. I simply try to show that if they’re not happy with that way of thinking, try checking things out the way I do. My point of view may not work for you, and that’s ok, but it never hurts to look at things from another angle.
Where do we go from here? Let’s start small. Let’s just acknowledge that each and every one of us is born different, and that shouldn’t limit us from being able to accomplish things. Let’s address the problems that we face in an open way, where everyone is entitled to their opinion but we learn to be tolerant and open minded enough to see that maybe there is a better way of accomplishing things if we can just find a way to compromise. This typically is easier when we are kind to each other, and talk in a respectful way. I guess the bottom line comes down to just that; being kind to each other, based on our UNIQUENESS, and learn to work together off of each other’s strengths instead of continuing to tear each other down for our DIFFERENCES. After all, it would be an extremely dull world if we were all the same.
Thought Provoking Discussions about Freedom for a New Generation 