We all get frustrated with other people. We get mad, we argue, we judge. We say things like…I can’t believe it…they are so stupid…they just don’t get it…they don’t really care…they only think about themselves. People are so frustrating, we say, they get on our last nerve! How could they believe that, how could they like him, what do they see in her? Are they really that out of touch?
We might not say these things out loud, or maybe we do. These thoughts can roil around in our mind in an incessant loop. Remember Linus in the Charlie Brown comic strip. “I love mankind, its people I can’t stand!” Do you find yourself here…too often?
We just need to get over the idea that everyone, all of the time, will act and speak the way we think they should. Read that sentence again. Why do we have this idea in the first place? There are about 7.5 billion people on the planet, there are more than 300 million people in the US and there are close to 10 million people in North Carolina. Why is it that we think we should all agree, or act the same or believe in the same things? That’s kind of crazy, right?
Kent M. Keith wrote a book called Anyway, The Paradoxical Commandments, Finding Personal Meaning in a Crazy World. Here is his take on it. Paradoxical Commandment #1:
People are illogical, unreasonable and self-centered. Love them anyway.
How about that? Let’s just acknowledge the truth…about other people and about our own self. Sometimes we are illogical, unreasonable and self-centered. Truth! So now comes the part that is a challenge. Love them, love ourselves…anyway.
There is no rule or law in the world that says we can’t decide to choose love over frustration and judgment. We can choose to meet our differences and our mistakes with love. The way we love others who push our buttons is to decide not to make our love, our kindness and our caring conditional.
It is choosing to express the best love we can…no matter what.
Choosing love,
Paula
