Today's
Meditation:
One
of my most important goals in life is to learn to
respect-- truly respect-- the uniqueness of others. No
matter how much I try to do so, I still find myself
criticizing and judging others based on their actions or
opinions. And that's not fair at all, for I really
don't know them or the motives behind and sources of those
actions or opinions. My goal is to accept others as
they are without applying names to them and without trying
to change them.
I
do find that this is easier as I grow more comfortable
with myself, with who I am as a person. I find that
as I get more in touch with my own authentic self and
allow that self to surface, I don't feel nearly as much of
a need to criticize others just because they've done
something I don't agree with. I'm much more able
simply to recognize the differences between us and to let
them be, even respecting them when they conflict with my
own ideas or opinions. I'm still not where I want to
be with this, but I am much further than I've ever been.
We
like to apply names and labels to people. We like to
judge and criticize. These actions give us a sense
of importance, a sense of righteousness. But when we
truly understand that we are important as we are, and that
our righteousness comes only from within, not from our
relations with others, we find that we are able to accept
and respect others much more readily and much more
fully. And this is important both for us and for
them.
I
want to grow as a unique person because as I do, I'll be
able to treat others with much more dignity and respect,
and then I'll be contributing an awful lot of positive
energy to this world of ours that needs as much positive
energy as it possible can get.
|