It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself.
Eleanor Roosevelt
There’s a lot of drama playing out in my state with the teacher walkout ongoing. I am seeing roadblocks to finding a solution in every direction and believe me people have been ugly on all sides. Throwing insults and angry outbursts have not gained support from anyone looking to win someone over. There’s been misinformation and twisting of information to garner support on both sides. One post I saw this morning was from a teacher. She was comparing the difference in democrat offices vs. republican offices at the Capitol. According to her, the Democrats left their doors open so people could charge their phones, pump or sit and relax. Republicans doors were shut and locked. I can only speak of what I have seen with my own eyes. I have seen post after post threatening that Republicans will lose their seats and insinuating that the reason Oklahoma schools are so bad is because we have a republican governor. I have watched teachers boo Republicans and cheer for Democrats on public tv. I often wonder if we get so caught up in pointing fingers at others that we forget how our own behavior is a direct result of how people respond to us. I know if my neighbors were walking past my house and waving I would keep my doors open but if they were threatening me and holding signs with insults I would probably lock my doors and close my blinds. These people are even getting death threats. They have been demonized and taken the brunt of the anger every step of the way and it doesn’t seem hard to figure out why there is not a welcome sign on their door and cheese and crackers in the hall. I’m not taking sides I just think we need to stretch our ability to see things for what they are and not what we are trying to make them out to be.
Today I challenge you to think beyond your feelings, your narrow mindedness and your limitations. Perhaps it’s time to talk and judge less and think more. Maybe it’s time to ask ourselves, how am I treating others and am I doing something to elicit an unfavorable response from someone else? These are hard but necessary questions to ask. It’s easy to get caught up in a movement, it’s hard to be objective about what is really happening. Make it your intention and watch how your interpretation of everything starts to change. These are tumultuous times and we have to get real if we ever want to outrun the storm.
anewperspectiveperhaps 