Appreciation

I think I am going to just take the time to write a little about appreciation this post. I’ve been wearing down a little thin more recently, with patience waning and my temper becoming shorter and shorter (almost shorter than these wintery days). I feel like a lot of things are getting to me and though I have come to terms with the fact the life is fundamentally unfair, I can’t say that there aren’t frequent irritations that occur, as they do for us all.

Politics has been a bit of a drag recently and has caused a huge amount of suppressed bile to rise from the sewers (that was a great metaphor, well done me -> self-compassion during angry feelings, gold star). There has been a lot of hate around, a lot of fear, words spoken out of turn and actions that are much worse than that.

So now, more than ever is a time for appreciation.

It is a wonderful happening that we are all so different, that we view things in different ways and can have such a huge impact on the world around us. It’s actually miraculous. Just think about it: you could merely smile at a passing stranger, make their day when it’s been a tough time and lead them to pass on that same kindness. The receiver of that kindness may be heading off to an interview and feel so much more upbeat, making the boss feel “Wow, what a motivated, upbeat individual”. That could lead to a job, which could lead to so much more. Ok, so maybe that won’t happen every time, but do you get my point? The reverse is also possible, but I think we have enough of those examples filtering through our newsfeeds daily that I’ll bypass telling another story.

How vanilla would the world be if we weren’t black, if we weren’t white, or Mexican, or Spanish or French or Arab, or Christian or Muslim or Atheist or Jew? If we all ate the same thing and we were all runners and there were no hikers. Or if we all were tied to our own lands, and never ventured past our front gates.

What if there weren’t thousands of different tongues in this world and there was only one way to express yourself.

What if, through all your hardships and when you felt so different, it was merely frowned upon, you were cast out with no community to support you.

This isn’t a world we want to live in. The only thing that should remain the same no matter where you go is love. Just love. And I’m not telling anyone to tolerate, what a horrid word. “Tolerate diversity”. Never.

Accept diversity. Always. We have no choice that it exists and why should we? It is what makes our world beautiful. I’m banishing “Tolerate” from my dictionary, along with “Hate”. One love and all that and peace be upon all of you (Asalamo Alaykom – what a fab arab/muslim saying). Just sweet peace.