Tuesday, September 30, 2014

I Am Right & So Are You

Recently, at my day job, I was training a new manager. At one point, I told her where the pens went. "Do you put the lids on them or not?" she asked.

"Some managers do. I do not. Do what works best for you." 

Another manager overheard me and scoffed, as though I was committing some great sin for not putting the pen lids back on. She said, "I always put the lids back on every...single...pen. I just cannot stand when someone doesn't do their job by putting the lids on!" 

Needless to say, she certainly made her opinion clear.


What interested me most on this day was that usually when someone tries to prove me wrong I jump right on the disgruntled bandwagon and lash out at them. However, this time was different. I sensed every ounce of pain within her and I also felt a big dose of compassion. I didn't need to prove her wrong at all. Instead, I explained how we were both right

I said, "From her perspective, she likes order and it is important to put the caps back on the pens. That is one way of looking at it and that is her truth. On the other hand, from my perspective, I like order too so I leave the pen caps at the other end so they are not in the way, but it is equally important to me to be as timely as possible. If I can shave off even a second or two from my work, I will figure out a way to do it. I have never placed a lid on a ball point pen and they still end up working for several years. Does that mean that either of our approaches are wrong? No. We are simply choosing to express ourselves differently and that is perfect. Who wants to be robot anyway? So, you choose what works best for you and go with that."  

This got me thinking. Why do we spend so much time sweating the small stuff? We all do it, myself included, and in this case, we are literally talking about a few pens. Why do we care so much what any of us are doing with a pen or two, as long as we stay true to ourselves and do what is best for us.

It's not just the small stuff either. Countless wars have been fought over the centuries because of theological differences. 'My God is better than your God' is a common theme. The truth is that if quantum physicists are correct and all matter and all thought are at the core the same energy than we are at the core one Divine Being. A friend of mine once said we are all different leaves on the same tree of life and he was right. Each leaf is the individual expressing itself however it sees fit and as a member of the entire tree, we are one thing too. If we keep this idea in mind, then no matter how we choose to express Source, it is all perfectly suited for our personal and cultural backgrounds. If we choose to see Buddha, Ganesh, a tree, Mother Earth, the big guy with a white beard seated on a throne, it is all good. It is still the same energy no matter how we choose to see it. 

That being said, anything from pens to the Divine and everything in between we have an opportunity to step into everyone else's shoes to see things from their frame of reference. If we did that, we would see that all of us, no matter what, are always right. There is no reason whatsoever to put up arms and get huffy. When we do, we are only hurting ourselves. However, if we respect each other's opinions without taking ownership of them ourselves, we bring balance to the whole. It's time to live and let live and love and let love. 

...and so it is!

Thank you for reading and Namaste! (The Light in me recognizes the Light in you!)

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