The theme of the week, at least as I saw it, is that we are all connected… we are in this fight – called life – together. Ultimately, we all want and are seeking the same thing in life: JOY. You can define it however you’d like but you might recognize it as overwhelming sense of contentment, feeling complete, conscious state of gratitude, calm and stillness, state of peacefulness.
Day in and day out we go about our lives, not even connected to others. We don’t say hello or even speak on an elevator. We don’t look up from our phones in the grocery line to acknowledge another. We judge one another. Our “getting to know someone” doesn’t even scratch the surface and seek to understand the core of their being… yet we long for connectedness, understanding, a sense of community. We can’t walk through life denying the existence of our brothers and sisters. We can’t connect with someone for the purpose of gaining something out of it.
We see life as this competition between one another… walking through life feeling like others are out to get us, thinking that our brothers and sisters have ill intentions or take everything so personally. We all do it… we are human… we were raised in a generation that seeks fulfillment, usually outside of ourselves.
That being said, I associate “humanity” as being able to recognizing ourselves in the other. You recognize in others what you know to be true in yourself… insecurities, anger, hate, conceit, fear but also compassion, longing, determination, and commitment. What does that mean? It means that – subtract the flesh – we are all the same in spirit. We seek connection, love, beauty, to be recognized – professionally or romantically, to fit in – or to stand out, to find purpose, meaning, and joy.
I was at the gym this morning and while I was stretching, I looked around… There we all were, wearing our headphones, bouncing from machine to machine, with the primary mission of staying healthy and getting in shape. We all had that in common… there we were all connected, even with our headphones on. It made me smile… I felt connected to each one. We were a community.
I challenge you to see others as your brother or sister. Relate and come from a place of understanding – even to a total stranger. And if you find yourself judging someone, just be aware that you recognized something in the other that you, yourself, can identify with… and you can’t judge another until you’ve given yourself a good hard look in the mirror. We are all in this together.
#love
Live Deliberately 