After writing back in August about one particular type of tree that is a standout in my neighborhood, I began to see even more variety on my walks. (If you missed Standing Out While Blending In, click here)
From afar they look the same, but up close, there are numerous varieties of trees in my neighborhood. I hadn't really noticed, because I hadn't really
looked. "Not really looking" doesn't make something true, based on our limited sight.
How often do we judge people from afar and think "they" are all the same and we're the ones who are different? And perhaps feel bad
about that? Or superior?
If we take the time to get close, that's when we find out that we have more in common with others than we think. The names, circumstances and places might be different, but the struggles are often
very much the same.
We all want to thrive. We have passions that stir our hearts. We want to be healthy. We want our loved ones to be safe. We need clothing, food, water, air, shelter. We need to be grounded in a sense
that we belong to something bigger than us. And we need hope, perhaps most of all.
My friend Todd lives in Asheville, North Carolina where they suffered extreme devastation as a result of flooding from Hurricane Helene.
They still don't have water and it could be two months more before they do. While the circumstances are dire there, Todd says that many people are coming to help and all the differences that usually separate people seem to have evaporated for the common good. He is so encouraged by that.
(If you want to help Todd and his neighbors, see below.)
Does it take a natural disaster to see that we truly are more alike than we are different?
Take a look at the people or groups you think are so different from you. Using the measuring sticks that I've just suggested, see if they aren't more alike you than you've allowed yourself to consider.
Can you see them?
Can you accept them?
Can you offer them the gift of equality and respect that you desire?
Can you suspend judgment that you are better than them?
Can you let go of envy and self-pity, thinking you are worse off than them?
Take a look at what thoughts you are using to keep you separate from these groups, to keep the collective "us" divided. What is the payoff for nurturing those thoughts? What is the payoff for remaining different according to perspective?
Today, focus on how you are more alike than you are different. (More alike than you've realized because you hadn't looked closely enough at what is similar.) Question your internal resistance. Therin lies a great treasure waiting to be discovered.
