Dear me,
No, that’s not a typo. The coaching group that inspired me to start writing this journal changed it’s name today (the better to copy-write later I gather).
Last night on our group call, the coach read off a list of questions for us to ask ourselves. She asked us to share which ones stood out to us as she read them. There were a few that struck me, but the one that not only hit me in the gut, but also made me laugh since I had JUST been addressing the topic was this:
“Do I accept others the they are, or do I judge them?”
LOL – perfect eh?
Of course my initial answer was “Well, up until just a few months ago, oh, did I ever judge!!” But honestly I would say I’ve got the acceptance/judging ratio for sure at 50/50 and maybe even leaning towards acceptance finally.
At the least I am not allowing myself to get wrapped up in conversations between others where the heart of the topic is being critical of someone else. Otherwise known as a gossip session of course.
Those can be fun, right? You feel a nice click of connection with your friends as you join forces to kibitz about how insane someone else is. Yay! Or, maybe not so much? I mean, how would it feel if you found out YOU were the center of such a gossip session? Sure, you all might go into the gab session under the guise that you are are all simply commonly concerned about this person and want to brainstorm a way to try and guide her to what YOU all think is a wiser life path. But really, who are we to make such a call and do we really think the subject is going to listen to us? I did my best to not join in the personality bashing, or get too wrapped up in the worry driving the desire to redirect this person. It was weird I am sure to the others since I am usually so quick to drop my scorn on this person! But without raining on THEIR parade too much I tried to soften a few things and point them down a gentler path which thankfully seemed to work. These are some of my favorite people to talk with otherwise and I love that they expressed a desire to continue the texting group + conversation on other topics.
I’ve just found that I no longer take any pleasure in talking about someone else.
And THAT is progress!
Apparently, I am doing quite well at living up to the statement: I value everyone equally.
I am grateful today for sweating as the result of a workout instead of from a fever! Huzzah!
My heart and mind is open, I speak with loving words.
Abundance flows freely through me.
Torrey Pines Reflections 