by Merci Gracia | Jan 16, 2021 | Tolerance
What if that person who cut you off in traffic was desperately rushing to visit their dying parent? Would you feel differently about their behavior? The truth is, we never really know the reasons for others’ actions. If we did, with some rare exceptions,...
by Merci Gracia | Dec 7, 2020 | Perception, Tolerance
Right and wrong are never absolute. Our perception of wrong is often just our judgment of someone else navigating life to the best of their ability. If we had their background – disadvantages and privileges – we might contemplate our actions in a different...
by Merci Gracia | Aug 11, 2020 | Tolerance
We each have our strengths and weaknesses. We’re naturally good at some things, while other skills and talents are born out of hard work and persistence. There are also aspects of living our lives and relating to others in which we are unskilled. Even though our...
by Merci Gracia | Jul 18, 2020 | Tolerance
We aren’t just a collection of beliefs. We see that when we imagine how we’d feel about someone if we had no idea what their political or religious opinions were. We’d be responding to their vibration, which is much more fundamental. Opinions and...
by Merci Gracia | Jun 29, 2020 | Acceptance, Tolerance
We may not be aware of how entrenched our beliefs are until we are challenged by others who disagree. We can gauge the degree of our rigidity by how threatened we feel. But, there’s no reason to feel hostile toward others with differing viewpoints. When we...
by Merci Gracia | Jan 21, 2020 | Tolerance
Part of what makes the world so fascinating and rich is the limitless variety. Colors, shapes, sizes, people, personalities and interests intrigue, delight and confuse us. Few of us would want to live in a place in which everyone was predictably similar, but we get...