We Know What Is Best For Others

This topic is so evident online and in the news and on discussion boards.  Without anyone truly knowing what a person has gone through, others are so quick to make it clear that they know what is best for you.  They may cloak the words and thoughts, but you can be darn sure that the words are not innocent.

Do we really know what is best for others?  I mean, have you walked a mile in their shoes?  Have you experienced the pains and horrors and the questions that hey have?

Most likely, even if you've had similar experiences in life, until you have walked in their shoes, you just don't know what they have been through.  It is a mistake to think you do.  It is condescending to believe you do. 

Yes, you may think the thoughts that you spread to social media and the messages you put out are what everyone needs to hear.  Unfortunately I believe the words are more for each person that writes or shares them, then they are often for others.  Yes, others may benefit, but don't confuse who the recipient is.

Learn to share your experiences...

Learn to share your experiences and how that has impacted your life.  Let it shine through what you've done to pick up and carry on in life when circumstances, situations, and experiences fought hard to keep you on the ground.

Learn to have compassion...

Learn to have complete compassion for others which may mean sometimes what you think they should hear, is not helpful in the least bit to them.  Sometimes the best and most powerful thing you can do is to just hold the space for them, devoid of judgment.

Judgment is not what others need...

Judgment is often in the things that are shared and written, but to be honest, it is far from what this world needs.  We've got too many people pointing the fingers at one another and not enough people listening with compassion and understanding.

Help make the world be a better place.  Help make the world into something that reflects back your passions by cleaning your own mirror.  If your mirror is dirty, it will be difficult to reflect back accurately that which you think you are doing.

Even when we think we know what is best for others, the audience is usually limited to one.  The audience we speak to and share our messages is often more for our self, than everyone else.

We may think we are above reproach on this, but if you stand back and observe your actions, there is a good chance you will see things differently.

Hopefully I'm not doing the same thing here that I am speaking out against.  If I am, then I failed in what I wrote.  My attempt is to get each one of us to think more clearly and openly of what we throw out into the world every day.  That is my intent and hopefully it shows through in the words I write.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

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Mindful Words

I am always amazed at just how everyone sits behind a computer screen these days and can type anything to anyone and never fully know them or even know what they look like, who they are or what they are about. Because the screen doesn't force you to stand face to face with someone, it is much easier to just type words that you would not otherwise say.

Several years ago, I saw this on internet message boards where people would not think about the words they wrote but just automatically type whatever came to their mind. Often they needed to just sit on it and think about it before typing what they wrote. It is just too easy to respond and much more difficult to think about the words that should be said, if anything.

Of course today, on every news story posted online, there are comments and ratings and replies. People are either spammers or trolls and often there is no discussion of the facts, just an outright manner of whatever you feel like typing is what goes. People have no interest in looking at all sides of an issue when posting online. That is too difficult for our simple minds and our mindless ways in our world.

It just doesn't stop on the internet either because now there are talking pundits from all walks of life and from all ends of the political spectrum that just shout their opinions and words and facts rather than listening to what anyone has to say who differs with them. Each person on TV tries to see how much they can get their point across without even taking a moment to stop and truly listen to the other person. It is interesting that all sides of the shouting have their "documents" and "research" and "polls" to back up what they are saying. Stop and think about that last statement for a minute. It is interesting that everyone has their research, documents and polls as proof of what they are trying to proclaim.

We tend to live our lives in a mindless way, not paying attention to anything but what is currently on our mind. The media feeds into this and so many spend a majority of their life allowing the media to feed their brains. I hope that one day, we as a society will wake up and understand what we are doing to ourselves.

We are not helping ourselves, our society or the world by seeing who can shout the loudest, who feels they are more right than anyone else and those across the political spectrum that are convinced that they know what is best. In fact, we are hurting not only the people we shout at but we hurt ourselves individually and collectively as a society.

At the end of the day, most of the things that everyone gets so upset about, they really do not matter. In the end, the bigger person is the one that can walk away from all of it and see a bigger picture. Our world and our lives do not need to be this way. There is another alternative that we can be part of but we must make difficult choices for our lives.

My hope is that all of us will wake up and begin to learn how to be mindful in our day with our words. With becoming mindful, we will learn what truly matters and how we can build one another up and evolve as we are meant to be. We as humans are meant to be much more than we currently are. Let our words show how much we truly care for each other and how much we want to evolve ourselves and the world.

And the mindful word of the day is hiybbprqag. Sorry, but I thought this made up word was too cute to not include here after I read the article about the search engines. I'm wondering how many though will mindfully read this and even see it.



Blog Post & Images (c) 1/31/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com