A message of tolerance and love.

Here’s where I stand with all the drama flying around Social media today after such an intense election battle. 

The message of love and tolerance we all defend so fiercely applies to our own actions. Instead of attacking someone for a mistake they’ve made, or something they’ve said, why not be tolerant and forgiving? Why not educate and lead by example? As individuals, we each possess different abilities in articulating our thoughts. Some folks have a much harder time using their written or verbal voice to express emotion, whether it is love, anger, frustration or joy.  I have said some incredibly ignorant things over social media. It took patient, understanding friends to point out my mistakes and talk to me about how to better express my thoughts, for me to grow and make progress with my own communication skills. If those same people had attacked me for the mistakes I made, what would I have learned?  And if they didn’t give me a chance to express what I was really thinking or feeling, how much progress could I have made?  

My own opinions and emotions frequently conflict with those of my friends. What I love, is that every time one of THEM shares their opinion, I learn a little more about them. I learn a little more about what is important to them and how they relate to other people. It’s a joyful experience to grow a little closer to my friends, even through our vast differences.

I love that as intelligent, progressive human beings, we are an impressively DIVERSE society. If we didn’t all have different morals, values, opinions, fascinations and expectations we would never learn from each other. We would never grow. 

I am getting much better, as I grow, learn and mature, at choosing to love, forgive, learn and educate. I am inspired by the ferocity with which my diverse friends express their emotions and desires. It gives me hope to see such passion, even that passion takes a different form than my own. There is room in this world for ALL of us, and it will take EVERY one of us to be a successful, joyful collective society.

I challenge each and every one of you to think on this: The next time someone says, or writes something which you find extremely offensive, take a moment to get to know them a little better. Care enough to try to discover the root of that emotion or desire they expressed in a way which offended you. Love them enough to value their opinion. Sometimes, something as simple as listening to one person can start a chain reaction of love and positivity that will ultimately bond thousands of people together… people who may not have had any outlet for their thoughts and feelings before you decided to love, and lead by example.

Hope you are all having a joyful day, my lovelies! 

~Bree