Acceptance

Today a mere comment on the weather got me thinking all day about this topic.  Acceptance.  So often I find that in general there are so many things about ourselves and our fellow humans that we do not accept.  For some reason over the past month or so I have been realizing how different, really different we all are.  That's what makes the human race so darn interesting.  We all have passions and interests that we share with others, but we are all individual and unique.  And that's exactly what we need to accept.  If we are constantly judging and expecting others to be like us and feel like us, then we will be constantly disappointed and frustrated with each other.  

When Liliana was just 5 months old, my mom and I took her and went by ourselves on a trip to El Salvador.  Eduardo's mom was sick at the time and since he couldn't go, I said I would go for him.  Now we spoke only a few words of Spanish at that time and nobody there spoke any English.  But we went and it was an experience that changed my life

You see until that trip, I constantly judged even my partner.  I did not understand why he did the things he did for his family, like sending the money every other week like every other good Spanish person does.  It frustrated me and there were things I just couldn't relate to, until I took that trip.  I had been to Mexico before and I lived in Canada for 4 years, but this was different.  I had immersed myself in a 3rd world country and I found a whole new appreciation for life in that experience.  I had a new-found appreciation for others I hadn't experienced before.  I've always been quite compassionate I believe, but this took it to a whole new level.  

My point is that you never know what someone else is feeling or experiencing or what they have been through in their lives.  The may be happy or sad or angry.  Who knows what got them feeling that way and if we really step back, their mood really doesn't need to affect us.  It may be little things like someone not liking the cold weather when someone else thinks it feels perfect outside.  There are so many little things like that we take for granted.  We don't realize how different someone else might be experiencing the world and that it's okay.  

I'm not saying I don't judge people or the ways they do things.  I have my parenting styles and do the things I do for a reason and for me it is the best choice.  I don't always understand why other people make the choices they do, but I have to accept the things I cannot change.  It doesn't mean I don't put my opinion out there and hope others will catch on, but if they don't, I have done my best.  And if someone thinks they are rockin with an old 80's hairdo, then power to them.  Who am I to judge?