"We are as strong as our weakest link.."
While the origin of this saying is debated the point is still the same. We are only as strong as our weakest link. What does that mean for us these days? What is our weakest link? Is it the undereducated, is it hate, intolerance, greed, money, power, self interest, conflict among religious teachings, beliefs and the practical practice of religions, the conflict between religion and science, the lack of physiological awareness, the inability to see ones personal struggles and understand that as a collective we have the same struggles, is it the idea that we must separate ourselves from "negativity" and surround ourselves only with like minded people?
For me the current political climate is a reflection of where we have been for a long time. Some people have lived it for generations, some people have seen it for generations, some people have been so isolated in their realities that they could not imagine how we could be so divided, and some people still believe that racism and bigotry are an ok way to believe. Which came first the chicken or the egg? Our country was founded by men who while doing there best to create a new country for europeans who under British rule felt no freedom or justice simultaneously vilified those they did not understand and slaughtered or enslaved them. Our country was founded on the blood of those sacrificed for the very freedoms the founding ancestors wanted so desperately for themselves. This is fact, it isn't an argument it is the truth. What do we do with the truth? Is it possible that we can look at the truth and see that we are still in the same situation just different details?
If we can see that we are repeating history can we actually look at it from a practical perspective and initiate real change by it? Because if we can't sit in the company of people we dislike or even hate and listen and try to understand or discuss our differences then what in that weakest link can we really change? What is it we are so afraid of that we cannot have a dialogue with people who we don't agree? Is it that our emotional identity is so strong that we can not accept where someone else is coming from because it threatens our well being, is it a reflection of our own inability to make real changes within ourselves or the way we live, or is it that we don't want to be alone in our views and the sacrifice of alienating ourselves from our friends, family, community and sense of belonging is too dominate for us to change the way we live?
I personally believe that we are so impacted by our upbringing and that our emotional intelligence is underdeveloped that we mentally and emotionally are stunted and that the realities most live in and the early teenage years are where most people stop growing. No one wants to look at their short comings most want to be surrounded by people who agree with their beliefs ( the price of friendship among most humans). We have societal structures in place that some how have determined that at 18 or 21 we are "adults" but who are the adults we are mimicking or mirroring? The pace of our lives is so fast that most people are trying to carve out a good life for themselves and their families and fighting having free time to relax and enjoy any time or money they may have earned, i get it, and there seems to be a disconnect with the people who are doing it while earning 100,000 plus a year and those who are trying to do it on minimum wage AND those who are billionaires. There are people who are dishonest and self centered at all of those levels and it seems that there is a trend where people believe all their hard work has won them the "good life" and those who aren't experiencing that "good life" haven't worked hard enough.. few seem to really appreciate their luck in all of it or the circumstances they were born into that helped create it.
i don't know what the solution is to this human crisis, i'm only one person. We have all experienced talking with someone who holds extremely different views and how it's almost impossible to change either perspective. Maybe just maybe if we know this to be true we can listen more and try to find our common ground, our neutral views and beliefs and build from there because building walls and dividing ourselves isn't going to create any change, we know this from history. I'm not saying sit by while an act of violence and injustice is happening BUT do we have it in us to give time to actually helping resolve our differences or are we going to walk away judging the experience and say "how sad" we are that it happens? Most people are capable of change but by in large there has to be an experience so profound that it can crack the mentality, the foundation of one's beliefs to the core. I hope that we engage in conversations that are uncomfortable, that we allow ourselves to be politically incorrect in our dialogue that we may find ourselves in our truest forms as we are born with an open mind, open heart and curiosity abound. We need to re-educate ourselves and expand upon what is true of our history, as humans, slow down, smell the roses AND admit that none of us have all the answers allowing us to be open to another viewpoint. Start looking at ourselves and how we show up not just for those we love and are beholden to BUT to the strangers we encounter every day.
I am going to keep making eye contact and smiling, saying "Hi" to everyone I cross paths with because it seems that such a simple act may hold more weight than most imagine. living our lives making eye contact and smiling with every human we walk past because we are ALL here on this TINY ASS planet hurdling through space and NO ONE here is "God" so take advantage of the moment and how connecting is something that can make a tiny and yet significant difference in someones day, psyche and it can be built upon if it happens over and over and over again. Maybe one day humans can be empathetic in a way that lends itself to real evolution.. you know.. the conscious kind.
