Treating People with Respect

It’s a wonder we’re not all building forts around our homes with all the news media coverage of political campaigns, horrors happening in the country and the world, and then people repeating all this negativity through social media. People are mentally breaking and committing acts of violence in their frustrations and fears. It’s hard not to feel inundated with hopelessness for the human race.

I’m striving to be a recluse. Not because I’m personally afraid, but because I’m so sick of it all. (Plus, I want to stay home to do my writing and art work.) People are upset by the affairs of the country and world, but history proves we are dealing with the same issues that have been going on since mankind began. Issues such as the haves and have nots, those thinking they are better than the next guy, wanting control over others, or just plain wanting what someone else has and feeling it’s their right to just take it. Then there are those who believe their way is the right way for everyone, whether it is or not.

News lately is full of hate, accusations, unfulfilled promises, misleading comments, snippets of statements used to promote dissention, marketing products that are not honest, and more. There are those who come up with convincing words to manipulate the public. OK, every so often there will be a human compassion story, but those are getting far and few between. The media’s excuse is that the bad news is what sells and they’re in the business to sell news. (And with either news or advertising; it doesn’t matter if it’s totally true or not.)

People rant about their ancestors being slaves on southern plantations, but there has been slavery for generations all over the world – and still goes on in some places. People are angry over discrimination, but discrimination isn’t only against one race or religion. Legal immigrants to this country are still being discriminated against in some places and many of them have been here for almost their entire lives. And, it doesn’t matter what country they came from! It’s not just one set of people!

Women have struggled throughout history to break free of certain roles, and as far as they’ve come in this country, there are still issues they are dealing with. Again, look at history. Times have changed, technology has changed, new programs were introduced and, for the most part, women have more freedoms, but in some cases, they are still treated differently than men. Then there are some countries where women don’t have many rights at all and men totally rule everything.

Some rant against “white privilege.” Well, not all white people fall into that category. Many have had hard lives. There are poor whites, discriminated against whites, white people who are jobless, homeless or living in hovels, veterans who can’t get proper help, and more instances.

The real issue is not about color, religion, where we’re from, ancestry, hair styles, mode of dress, or language we speak. It’s about how people are treated! Maybe it’s about hierarchy. Those in power (governments) always believe themselves above everyone else; from better benefits and education, to bigger salaries …

So, what do we need to do to live wholeheartedly? Maybe it’s just about learning to live together, accepting and respecting one another. Bring back some simple guidelines for living well like working hard, kindness, courtesy, sharing, helping neighbors, etc. Maybe it needs for leaders to show more respect for people, to find programs to help and if a program doesn’t work (no matter how good it sounds) take it down and try something different.

No, it’s not a perfect world, and because of human nature, there are those who will always be on that “other” side of goodness. As a writer, I’m more aware of words. These days I’m particular on who and what I listen to. I watch people’s actions before I believe what they say. I look for a deep-hearted goodness in others … and work at promoting that more in myself.

I may not leave my house often these days, but when I do, I always try to say a few kind words to people I meet, give a compliment, say something light-hearted about the weather. I also take time to thank delivery people, store clerks, waiters, etc. If they have a story, I’ll listen. These little things don’t take much effort, but they can help others feel better and it gives me a feeling of accomplishment, that I’ve lived a whole-hearted day.

Let Us Be Americans First

Yesterday’s stream-of-consciousness writing sent me on the issue of being American. What set this off was continually hearing news reports about African Americans and Jewish Americans, and then there’s Chinese Americans, Native Americans, etc., and you could even add man or woman to that. African American woman, Chinese American man … And I thought:

What if we are all Americans first? People with wants and wishes the same as many others.

People often ask me if I’m Native American. My first shocked thought is, “Why would you ask that?” On one hand, that’s something to be proud of. On the other hand, does that make me different? Does it make me stand out to be ridiculed? Does it put me in a category where I might be seen as … whatever someone else might think?

Think about it. What comes to mind when you think of any of these ethnic terms? Are your first thoughts on what you last heard on the news about others of this ethnicity, something you read about these people in history, or are you looking at him as an individual person?

What would people’s reactions be if others started labeling themselves as White Americans? That would open a whole new can of worms. There are probably many who already think that way. It’s one thing to think it, another to be saying it publicly.

The minute we start differentiating between people due to color, religion, or whatever, division occurs. The minute we start labeling others, it either makes them like us or different from us. When there’s a division, people take sides. One side is better than the other. That side gets more benefits. The government gives them more freebies. That one has life easier. Those get better jobs. Whatever it is, emotions stir; and sometimes when emotions get involved it can be over something that’s not even true.

I’m not putting down anyone’s ethnicity, heritage, or religious beliefs. We all have the right to hold onto our family histories and beliefs … if we want to. Everyone should have the right to work hard to make a good life for ourselves and our families. Everyone should respect one another’s beliefs.

It’s about time people started putting these differences aside and work together as people wanting to live in this country.

Letting go and Living Wholeheartedly

This week has been another round of changing how I think and changing what I think about. One subject that fit this was in letting go.

Letting go is hard, sounds hard, but these past few days as I've been working on living at a higher level of consciousness, I find if I don’t think of it as letting go, but as releasing to the Light, it feels better, and it’s more freeing.

I started this practice by catching myself any time my thoughts began spiraling out of control. It’s not always easy. Sometimes my mind grabs hold of a subject and the thoughts go ‘round and ‘round until I’m emotionally flattened. I give myself a mental shake, and say, “Stop, relax, breathe, let those thoughts go to the Light,” the minute I realize what I’m doing.

I’m doing it and I feel so much better! Thoughts and beliefs I no longer need, release them to the Light. Bad feelings, depressing thoughts, ugliness on the news, release those thoughts to the Light.

But what about letting go of physical stuff? I thought about all my stuff that physically got thrown away after the big yard sale in May and how I cried to see good stuff, MY stuff, in the town dumpsters. Do you know how much cross-country skis cost? Two vehicles full (mine and a friend's) of things I’ve had for years, just thrown away. I knew I had to let go, but it hurt so bad. I was crushed. I sobbed all the way home. But I had to do it.

Yet now that I am taking this new thought patterning of releasing to the Light, I look back on the past months and feel the release.

By the way, I see the light as a bright universal light, a Pure Divine Light (PDL), a God-Light, if you will. (And I see the word(s) capitalized.) In my vision, the little self me is standing on a hill, and a beautiful, all-encompassing Light surrounds me, fills me. I raise my arms and whatever it is I need to release, is gently taken from me.

This is all one more step in living whole heartedly. I’m recognizing where I am in life, acknowledge life lessons learned, and move on. I strive to be the best I can, knowing who I am, yet making steps to be better. Today I am enough, tomorrow I’ll be enough for tomorrow.

Hmmm, if I think of things as energy, and energy is constantly moving ... or moving every so often, it stands to reason that we need to eventually let things move on. Heck, even WE need to move on sometimes. We can't even hold onto ourselves.

Oh, dear, where did that come from and where am I going with this? But it is life. We spend our lives developing the "me" we want to be, only to find as we get older, we have to change ... and we develop a stronger "me," then eventually we have to even let that go.

Energy is born into a human form. Throughout the life of that form, it constantly changes and grows – and eventually passes back into pure energy.