Acceptance, understanding, and appreciation for life tend to be lost on some people. Many on this earth allow differences to separate them from others without any valid reason other than them thinking that differences are too difficult and too insignificant to overcome. In a time where biased opinions influence beliefs, this allowance is dangerous to relationships. Even though we may not realize it, each one of us has a relationship with those who we both encounter and those we never meet. Our actions affect this earth and this life which in turn affects those here and those yet to come. Even though we may not know those people, we have a relationship of sorts with them.
As people, we expect understanding and tolerance shown to us. Even though we hold that expectation, we don’t always return the gesture. What stops us from acting the way toward others as we expect them to act toward us? There are many answers to this question. Some answers include hatred, fear, misunderstanding, resentment, and ignorance. Once we can figure out what is causing these issues, we can then deal with them. Once we understand our habits and our ways, we can find ways to better ourselves. If we can treat people in a better manner, maybe they will do the same for others. Our actions towards them influence how they react to those they encounter in the future. The way that they treat others will be passed on to their children and so on. It’s a little daunting that our actions can influence such a great number of people. How then do we change this? It’s simple, we have to change the way we react in certain situations. We have to take care of how we hold ourselves and present ourselves along with developing the way we think. In order to do this, we must find tolerance within ourselves for diversity of all kinds. Whether it is religion, gender, ability, ethnicity, or sexuality, we have to be able to deal with it in a manner which isn’t oppressive to others.
I watched a movie today called “Arranged”. It is a story of two young women, one is Muslim and the other is Orthodox Jewish, who are new teachers in a Bronx public school. Despite their obvious differences, they develop a special bond. Even though many people are against their friendship, they don’t allow it to break them apart. Over the course of the year, these two women find they have much more in common than they had thought. As I watched this movie, it made me reflect on how much we take our actions for granted and how much hatred has ruined the chance of many relationships. Prejudice and biasness has become part of everyday life and it’s ridiculous. People judge others by first sight instead of by interaction. That judgment is based on appearance alone. Do they appear to be something different than you? If the answer is yes, then 9 times out of 10, that is it. There is no second thought on the issue. They are deemed something lower than the person judging them. We do not hold the power of judgment. It is not in our ability to rightfully judge someone. We tend to discard someone before we even know them because of how they look or act or what someone says about them. This movie reminded me that this isn’t good. We don’t have the right to do this to someone. This does nothing except push people away from each other and create boundaries that separate groups of people. It creates hatred and discrimination. It makes life very unfair and it can easily be avoided.
So the next time that we encounter someone new, let’s not be so quick to jump to conclusions about them. Let’s try to get past all our differences and get to know them. Maybe we could learn something from them that might change us. Don’t allow appearances and superficial attributes be the reason you push someone away because it only takes one tiny crack to break something precious.
