To and With

We’ve mastered talking about and posting about others. Could you imagine speaking with and interacting with people we don’t understand?

We typically don’t understand others for only one reason - our experiences are different.

That’s right. We each experience life differently. Those experiences will then inform and mold our beliefs. Those beliefs then become safety, security, and comfort to which we cling. Let that land.

When you take issue with someone else, it is not the other person who is causing you to feel tension or negativity or hostility but rather, you are actually struggling to navigate why their beliefs are not yours. That’s simple. Their beliefs are not yours because their experiences are not yours.

Once again, allow that to land.

When we fight and argue about which beliefs are right, we are literally dismissing the experiences that have informed those beliefs. In essence we are dismissing the person’s entire existence.

This is why I feel less conversations about each other and more conversations with each other can benefit all of us. Conversations are the gateway to understanding and acceptance. We can disagree and still accept each other. But that will never happen if we first don’t give each other an opportunity to learn and understand each other.

Much love,
Michael