Consider This...

Everyone has their own opinion. Sometimes people disagree but they can still be friends because of respect.

I used to have more narrow thinking and saw only my way. MS forced me to look at my life in a different way-I stepped back and considered my life with a bigger view. (When I think about it every trial has forced me to step back and has enlarged my view.) I've had MS for almost six years now and my thinking today is much different now than before getting sick.

I feel confident enough with my own beliefs to consider another point of view. Most of the time when I do, it reinforces my beliefs and I realize what they believe 'is what it is', and is out of my control to change-I may be able to influence them with my words but they're gonna believe what their gonna believe. I can either accept our differences, respect them, and be their friend knowing they think differently than me, or I can complain about the unfairness, or force them to think like me. Whatever I do is what I chose.

I don't say things to make people think like me. I just want to express myself and hope my words are 'considered'. Again, I don't say things to make people think like me. I just want to express myself and hope my words are 'considered'. Some people might disagree with what I say but I hope they will respect me and that we can be friends.

I read this poem last night and it seems to fit my words so well:

A WIDENING VIEW

When my eyes first opened
Behind the viewfinder,
There in closeup
Was a flower–
The only possible flower.

Who turned the lens
for the pullback?
Life, I guess.
What–
Another flower?
And another?
A field alive with flowers.
(The only possible field?)

Loss.
Delight.

Borders are forever gone.
Life is at the lens.
The view goes on
And on.

(Pearson, Carol Lynn, "A Widening View", Beginnings and Beyond, Utah: Cedar Fort, 2005. 46. Print)


Respect

I understand the Savior's declaration, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

He was looking at the situation from their view point. If a person wasn't spiritual and they didn't believe in him they wouldn't understand why He did what He did. Instead, they wouldn't like that He rocked the boat of normalcy, they'd dislike his honesty, and they'd want to get rid of Him.

If I don't believe what another person does and I don't respect them, I might mock them and the things they hold dear; in that case, I don't understand and know not what I do. Sympathy and Empathy can only happen when I have respect for them. If I don't respect them, I might be able to pretend that I care but really, I don't.

Dress to be Taken Seriously

While on my way to church yesterday, I saw a guy drive into another church's parking lot wearing a t-shirt. I thought it was odd that he wore something so casual to worship the Lord. I kept thinking of a boy saying to a girl: if you don't want me to treat you like a hoochie, don't dress like one. That guy made me think of how we judge people based on their appearance. I also thought about how what a person wears dictates their behavior. Would that guy be as respectful in a t-shirt as he would if his shirt had buttons and was neatly pressed? 

A guy who's pants slouch under his behind will never get hired to work in an office. Maybe McDonald's will hire him but no other boss in their right mind ever will. I'd say that if he wants to get paid more he needs to take pride in how he looks and start by pulling up his pants.

I've seen girls wear tight (and revealing) clothes. Girls need to leave something to the imagination and respect themselves. They don't need to wear shirts that have straps so narrow that their bra straps show - it's just not attractive and people think of the girl as lower class. Something in my mind says it's wrong when I see girls wearing shirts that are so see-through (or non-existent) that their entire bra shows - the girl may think she looks good, but, believe me, when people see it they'll think she doesn't. If the trend is to be immodest, I hope some girls will have the guts to stand up for themselves and not follow it. I believe they don't want to wear something that later in life they'll regret.

Maybe some people think I say this because I'm conservative. It has nothing to do with that but respect, honor, decency, right and wrong. In today's world, everyone has their own version of what they think is best. No longer is there a standard that everyone lives by because some people say there shouldn't be one. (The standard is what's right and I stand for it.) I say that wearing inappropriate things is wrong - because people judge what we wear. If we want to be taken seriously, we need to look the part.

Forgiving Injustice

Segregation and a lack of civil rights DID exist in the 1960's. Folk singers sang of injustices. Songs known as "spirituals" spoke about a better day. The world stopped using slaves but it took decades before light people called dark people simply...people.

Some dark people haven't dismissed the injustices done to their people (and maybe them.) Songs from the 60's and memories of wrongs cause people to not only say "that wasn't fair" but to want light people to suffer for the injustice. The feeling I get is this thought my people suffered, now you suffer.

Having this mentality causes at least two problems: 1) anger, 2) the people who suffered aren't elevated to inspirations but victims. When a person feels anger toward someone else, the anger stops them from being their true self. They are so encapsulated by their anger that they push out love and every other good feeling. They become enraged by their anger as they allow it to fester. They get a bitter heart because they simply won't let go of injustice.

Injustice inevitably happens in a world full of imperfect people. We can either choose to be angry or forgiving. Forgiveness doesn't mean thinking of the injustice as right, but letting go of the anger held in the heart. I've had injustice done to me. Not segregation but the thing hurt me just as deep. I ended up letting it go because I didn't want to be an angry, bitter person.

Respect in America

My conscience tells me that the difference between Democrats and Republicans is the way they view things. Democrats are for progress and evolution. They see things as living and seek to change them if they think things should be done differently. Another word for Democrat is Liberal. Republicans are for keeping some things the way they are. They believe in progress that helps mankind but see some things as set in stone. They don't want things changed just because they can be. Another word for Republican is Conservative. There are varying degrees in both parties - some people are more Liberal or Conservative than others - but each American, in their heart, is either one or the other. 

The two parties will never see eye to eye but they can work together on the basis of respect. I see a lack of respect when someone says "I'm right, you're wrong!" People with opposing views have worked together for years but something has happened where now they are unwilling to compromise. It seems like one side won't work with the other unless the other side agrees with them completely. That will never happen!

Since 1980, America has had mostly Republican presidents. Now America has a Democratic president. Some of the people who support him point their finger at non-supporters and say "it's our turn!" Those people cause division and hatred and bully those who disagree with them. They also try to force people to believe in something they don't. They may be a different degree of Democrat - more Liberal, or outspoken, or whatever - but they are Democrats and, in my mind, giving all Democrats a bad name.

If Mitt Romney wins the presidential election in November, and once again America has a Republican president, I hope he will work to establish respect. If Obama wins, I'm guessing there will be more division, hatred, and bullying than ever before. I'm scared of the division, hatred, and bullying and think it will make America go backward and not progress.

Respect

The thing that holds our society together is respect. We have different ways of solving problems but respecting each other allows us to be civil.

It seems like today respect and civility have flown out the door. People say things online they would never say in person. If you disagree with someone they call you names or try to bully you into thinking their way. Some people feel intimidated when they are called names or bullied and conform instead of standing up for what they believe. Most people don't like confrontation and will sacrifice their beliefs to keep the peace. Another thing is people are too busy to think about the fact that they are being bullied, they don't want to deal with it so what happens? The bully wins.

I used to be one of the busy people but my life slowed down a lot when I got sick and stopped working. I started noticing bullies because I wasn't living on auto-pilot. I wasn't just doing the same thing every week and became aware and conscious of things going on around me. I realized that when I was living on auto-pilot I was like a sheep or cattle being directed because I didn't want to deal with it.

I think that's what our government meant by saying something like "people are too stupid to make their own decisions so we do it for them". It's not that people are too stupid, it's that people are too busy and don't want to deal with things. They think "let someone else do it" then complain because it's not being done the way they would do it.

Others have made decisions that people don't like, but the same people who don't like it were complacant and too busy with their lives to stand up.

I think it's time to stand up and wake up! Do we really want to lose our respect for each other and take a giant step backward?