I was once a very black and white thinker. Everything and everyone had their special place and purpose in my life. This concept made it easy to understand and control the world around me.
But, over the course of my lifetime, I have been exposed to many inexplicable grays. They have covered my path and caused me to question the attitudes I developed earlier. As I began to understand the gray spectrum more fully, I found that I was no longer capable of seeing black and white. I became intolerant and anything that was outside of the gray spectrum was unacceptable.
Then one day, I met a black and white thinker that represented the same thoughts I had many years prior. I could have become very frustrated by this person, as I had others in the past, but he taught me a very valuable lesson. It is important to understand that in this one life we have to live, we do not have to think the same way. But…we must always value and respect each other and their right to have a different perspective.
Life is so much fuller when we recognize the value of diversity.
Today, may we seek to understand others in a way that appreciates the full spectrum.
Living fully,
Carol Marchant Gibbs
Stories Changing Lives