Growing up, everything in life was black and white and I'm not referring to race issues. I'm referring to how you lived, the decisions you made and the rules by which you followed each day. I know not ev
eryone lived this way but in my family, with the world I lived in, everything was one right or wrong.
We would go to church each Sunday and listen to a minister dictate what was right and wrong for our life. Of course, they could back it up with scripture, rules, discipline or whatever was at their disposal. There was a plentiful supply of ammunition in order to make things fall into one of the two categories, right and wrong.
Today, we don't have to go far to see the same thing taking place in our society. Whether it is medicine, new age concepts, religion, politics or news, we are living in a time where everything is one side of an issue or another. There is no middle ground. There is no common ground. It is either my way or the highway so to speak.
No one stops to listen to the other person's point of view and sees where maybe they agree. It is all about scoring points and sensationalizing the stories of our day. It is all about control and manipulation to get others to agree with our defined set of beliefs and rules.
Yet, by doing this we show how little we value others who do not share our set of beliefs, rules and opinions. While I'm sure we have our own set of facts, data and research to back up what we say, it is in many ways, still an opinion or belief we hold. Many things that we hold as absolutes in this world do not come close to measuring up to that designation.
If we truly want to hold fast to humans enduring for years to come, we need to begin to not just see things as black and white, right and wrong. We need to open ourselves up to listen to others and truly hear what they have to say. For if we impose our will, our beliefs and our judgments on other people, than we are holding not only them as captive to us, but we have lost site of who we are as a human.
Further Reading:
1) Freedom From Pain (Blog Post 9/10/10)
2) Beliefs Are Often Regurgitated Rhetoric (Blog Post 6/3/11)
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Blog Post & Images (c) 7/2/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com
If any part of this post is used or shared, a link back to this site is required.
http://mindbodythoughts.blogspot.com/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
eryone lived this way but in my family, with the world I lived in, everything was one right or wrong.We would go to church each Sunday and listen to a minister dictate what was right and wrong for our life. Of course, they could back it up with scripture, rules, discipline or whatever was at their disposal. There was a plentiful supply of ammunition in order to make things fall into one of the two categories, right and wrong.
Today, we don't have to go far to see the same thing taking place in our society. Whether it is medicine, new age concepts, religion, politics or news, we are living in a time where everything is one side of an issue or another. There is no middle ground. There is no common ground. It is either my way or the highway so to speak.
No one stops to listen to the other person's point of view and sees where maybe they agree. It is all about scoring points and sensationalizing the stories of our day. It is all about control and manipulation to get others to agree with our defined set of beliefs and rules.
Yet, by doing this we show how little we value others who do not share our set of beliefs, rules and opinions. While I'm sure we have our own set of facts, data and research to back up what we say, it is in many ways, still an opinion or belief we hold. Many things that we hold as absolutes in this world do not come close to measuring up to that designation.
If we truly want to hold fast to humans enduring for years to come, we need to begin to not just see things as black and white, right and wrong. We need to open ourselves up to listen to others and truly hear what they have to say. For if we impose our will, our beliefs and our judgments on other people, than we are holding not only them as captive to us, but we have lost site of who we are as a human.
Further Reading:
1) Freedom From Pain (Blog Post 9/10/10)
2) Beliefs Are Often Regurgitated Rhetoric (Blog Post 6/3/11)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blog Post & Images (c) 7/2/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com
If any part of this post is used or shared, a link back to this site is required.
http://mindbodythoughts.blogspot.com/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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