We have a cookie cutter mold for what people are supposed to be like. In our society, you are supposed to be thin, attractive, professionally successful and popular.\u00a0 If you aren\u2019t any of these things, then you need to \u201cfix\u201d whatever you are lacking.\u00a0 We have difficulty accepting people who don\u2019t fit the mold.<\/p>\n
Now, of course, we do need to be certain things in order to be proper members of society. We need to be self-supporting.\u00a0 And we need to be kind – to other people, animals and our planet.\u00a0 But beyond that, there is a vast world of differences between us, and we need to learn to accept, and even embrace, those differences.<\/p>\n
For instance, I find it funny when parents worry that their kid isn\u2019t \u201cpopular.\u201d Why?\u00a0 It is important to have friends, but why is it necessary for your child to be the life of the party?\u00a0 We all aren\u2019t built that way.\u00a0 Some of us are naturally introverted, and some of us are naturally extroverted.\u00a0 We all have different needs for socializing.<\/p>\n
For example, I am an introvert. I can go to a party or social gathering for about 1 \u2013 2 hours.\u00a0 Then I\u2019m done, and I\u2019m looking at my watch wondering when I can leave.\u00a0 Thanksgiving nearly breaks me every year.\u00a0 About two hours into Thanksgiving, I am counting the minutes until everyone leaves.\u00a0 Unfortunately, they aren\u2019t leaving for days.<\/em> Nothing is wrong with me, and nothing is wrong with everyone else.\u00a0 We all just have different levels of tolerance for interacting with other human beings.<\/p>\n We also have difficulty accepting different life choices. That is why so many people have a mid-life crisis at 40.\u00a0 They\u2019ve made life choices based on what society expects of them.\u00a0 They\u2019ve gotten married, when marriage doesn’t suit them.\u00a0 They\u2019ve had children, when parenting isn\u2019t part of their skillset. And they\u2019ve pursued traditional jobs, when they should have been working a desk job by day and pursuing their artistic careers by night.\u00a0 Then they hit midlife and are miserable.\u00a0 The older I get, the more I realize that getting married at 25, having two children and working in an office suits only a small percentage of people.\u00a0 Most people need to do something very different with their lives.\u00a0 And we need to stop looking at people who don\u2019t get married or who don\u2019t have children as if there is something wrong with them.<\/p>\n Globally, our inability to accept our differences is destroying our world. Religion is a good thing, until we insist that our religion is \u201cright\u201d and everyone else\u2019s is \u201cwrong.\u201d\u00a0 Political discourse is a good thing, until we stop talking about issues and just engage in school yard name calling.\u00a0 Our inability to accept different beliefs and points of view makes our world a very sad place indeed.<\/p>\n Accepting our differences is hard. We naturally are inclined to think that everyone experiences the world in the same way that we do, but that simply isn\u2019t the case.\u00a0 My husband always jokes that if I am cold, I assume that I and everyone else in the room should get a sweater.\u00a0 I think that everyone is experiencing the world in the same way that I do.\u00a0 But they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n It takes maturity to realize that if someone is different from you, that doesn\u2019t make them wrong. This week, consider your attitudes toward others, whether they be your spouse, your children, or your colleagues.\u00a0 Do you want them to change aspects of themselves that are different from you?\u00a0 Or do you accept them for who they are?\u00a0 Take some time to think about how you can accept others for who they are, differences and all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We have a cookie cutter mold for what people are supposed to be like. In our society, you are supposed to be thin, attractive, professionally successful and popular.\u00a0 If you aren\u2019t any of these things, then you need to \u201cfix\u201d whatever you are lacking.\u00a0 We have difficulty accepting people who don\u2019t fit the mold. Now,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":593,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n