“Demand that other’s be the change you want to see in the world.” – JP Spears
This guy continues to crack me up!
What is so great about JP’s videos is that he says everything that I want to say and pokes fun at how we (Americans) sometimes take ourselves a little too seriously. With he ability to be “heard” via social media it is too easy to just start hammering out opinions and labeling people instead of creating healthy dialogue. As I get older I am constantly amazed at how knowing someone as an individual can reshape the entire way you see a culture. I had a “best work friend” at Texas Instruments that was Hindu. Growing up I often saw varying religions as enemies. Hindus against Muslims, Christians against every other religion. I had little respect for other religions and I didn’t even have the kindness to listen to another person talk about their religion. Instead I wanted to feed them my beliefs the way geese are force fed corn in order to create fois gras.
In 2018, I want to be more respectful of people and their beliefs. I want to see how they do things and not try to change them. That does not mean that I won’t tell people what I believe to be the truth. If you want to identify as a chicken, I will not tolerate that. That is not love. However, at every turn I want to be a “marigold“, where I help others around me to grow and prosper when they are planted near me. I think in life we are supposed to be garners that cultivate the world around us. Sometimes pruning hurts. Life is painful, there is no escaping pain. However, we get the choice to either allow pain to destroy us and we can medicate it away, or, we can allow it to make us better.
