Unity, Tolerance & Acceptance

Unity, Tolerance and Acceptance sound as though they should go hand in hand. Unity essentially meaning oneness in harmony or togetherness in terms of humanity. In order to create unity you need to first achieve tolerance and acceptance towards others who are unlike you. Whether that is in opinions, politics, physical attributes , culinary tastes, hobbies or passions. The list of possible agreeing or disagreeing goes on and on. The issue we're facing today it seems, is that people have stopped looking for ways to unify rather desperately seeking more ways to divide.

To be honest, I'm guilty of this myself on occasions although I'm doing my best to stop taking things at face value instead looking deeper into why people think, act or feel the way they do.

In a world of social media and generations of people who boldly put their true selves out in public for the world to see, this task is relatively simple.

Figuring out where people are coming from and why they say, post or comment the things that they do takes little more than a few clicks and seconds of research. The harder task then becomes forcing your reactive emotions to look past the triggering event and allowing yourself to step into their shoes for just a few moments.

Imagine if everyone counted to 5 before reacting to something that triggered them emotionally, how different humanity would be. We would have legitimate tolerance and acceptance which in turn gives us the unity we say we're fighting for.

So why don't more people do this? Why do I catch myself instantly reacting to something when I KNOW better? That answer is pretty simple, because we're emotional creatures and right now? We're mad.

We're mad at everything.

Mad because of the way our ancestors were treated. (BLM and Civil Rights)

Mad because the world is burning and no one cares. (Climate Change)

Mad because the candidate they wanted to be President didn't win. (Hillary/Trump/Biden)

Mad because they keep getting censored (Conservatives)

Mad because their home life is terrible (Trolls on the internet)

Mad because they don't have enough followers (Social Media Influencers)

Mad because they hate or lost their jobs (Blue collar workers)

Mad because they feel lied to about the pandemic (Conspiracy theorist)

Mad because they KNOW they were lied to about the pandemic (Reality)

Mad because others don't take the pandemic seriously (Mask-up vs Non-maskers)

This list can also go on and on. There is lots of things to be angry about and people are taking full advantage of that anger using it as an excuse to lash out at others when normally they probably wouldn't. Myself included.

So how do we fix it..

That's the million dollar question. I can tell you whole heartedly though, it doesn't start with those in charge of DC. Government, government officials and people in power don't want unity. The population is easier to control and manipulate when they are divided regardless of the act in which divides them. If that wasn't true, we wouldn't be where we are now as a nation.

Fixing it would be a total and complete shift in our way of thinking. Responding with empathy, not anger.

For example: It's no secret that I am a conservative. I tend to lean right with most issues but just because I tend to lean that way doesn't mean I'm a domestic terrorist (Thanks AOC...) or that I don't respect your stance on important issues.

Just because I believe there are only two genders because science, doesn't mean that I don't accept or respect you as a person..as an American... if you want to be identified as non binary. Why? because it's non of my business, however if I get it wrong show me some grace. I'm getting older.

Just because politically I'm a conservative doesn't mean I don't think you should be able to marry because you happen to be the same sex. Love and marry whomever you please, it's none of my business. Actually, if you send me a wedding invite I might just show up and drop it like its hot. That goes for the straight folk as well.

Just because I believe in stronger boarders for the USA doesn't mean I'm in favor of keeping out people who are suffering under their own countries regime or that I don't support easier, more fluent ways of becoming an citizen. I look at borders similarly as locking my doors at night. If you show up cold and hungry trying to break in my window, I'll call the cops. But if you show up cold and hungry ringing the doorbell, I'll answer with soup and a blanket. I understand that the US doorbell is broken and needs to be fixed but that doesn't mean we should leave our doors unlocked every night.

Just because I don't believe abortion should be used as a celebration of women's rights or as birth control doesn't mean that I don't understand that there are circumstances where an abortion has to occur. The mother of that child should not have to present herself in front of a judge to be able to make that decision and the process of adoption needs to be less complicated and less expensive so that there is other avenues besides killing the baby.

(Yes, I said baby. As a mother of 3 whose had ultrasounds as early as 5 weeks I can assure you anything at or after that timeframe is more than a clump of cells. Sorry if you've been led to believe different.)

I could go on and on but I feel like you get the point. Just because my political stance differs from yours doesn't mean I think less of who you are as a person. I still want you to eat, I still want to see you succeed. I still will celebrate your wins when they come even if I don't fully understand them. Finding common ground amidst all divisiveness and leaving government out of the decision entirely is how we fix it. I'm working harder to recognize that and all I can do is ask that you do the same.

It starts with you. It starts with me. It starts with us.

Together is better and it's the only way.