Have an OPINION

I’ve felt a bit ashamed of this over the years. 

A self-proclaimed “gray area girl” with a perceived lack of conviction around various topics.  I feel one way, then I hear argument for the other side and easily find myself swayed toward an understanding of that viewpoint.

This quote-unquote inability to take a stance, to offer hard-and-fast opinion, to BE black and white has often felt like a personal flaw, as I grew up surrounded by the powerful opinions of my dad, my brother and others in my family.  Strong and unapologetic debates were ever-present in our home (they still surround family gatherings!).  And, I felt a bit like a square peg with my soft-center viewpoints and meet-in-the-middle ideas.

I can easily slide my feet into the shoes of another and feel how differently they FIT.  They’re different but I can get them on my feet.

What am I saying?

We are so different.

We are so the same.

For some reason, TODAY, I see the gifts in ALL of this.

I have the ability to align myself with how and why YOU may have come to believe as you believe.  And, I can often deeply align with how and why you FEEL the way you do as a result.  I quickly relate to the fact that if MY circumstances were different, I too might have a strongly opposing view to my own current opinion (if that can possibly make sense!).  Myopinion is simply an assumption based on my gathered information.

I hold onto my thoughts and opinions out of empathy and understanding for our overall human differences.  It is also out of respect and recognition of the TRUTH – that our paths have been profoundly unique and the lens that I see life through will never be the same lens that you are looking through.  So, it is an organic element in MY WAY OF BEING . . . it is natural for me to pause, to cultivate empathy, and to conjure understanding around how you might have a completely opposite viewpoint to mine based on the realities of your life, based on your unique journey.

I see the gift of the pause.  I see the gift of holding my judgment.  I honor the gift of compassion for another’s journey, the gift of being able to tenderly feel the both sides of the coin.

So, what do I KNOW to be true in this moment?

I KNOW THIS. . .

“It is not our differences that divide us.  It is our inability to recognize, accept and celebrate those differences.”
~Audre Lorde

THIS, I will take a solid stand on.

This I BELIEVE wholeheartedly.

What else do I believe wholeheartedly (since I’m on a roll)?

Well, I must tie it all in with how this relates to YOGA for me.
And, here’s TWO PRIMARY REASONS I BELIEVE WHOLEHEARTEDLY IN THE POWER OF YOGA:

1.  The goal of yoga is yoga.  Period.

So what does this mean in the simplest of terms?

Yoga MEANS to unite.

The goal of YOGA is to UNITE.  PERIOD.

Amen to that.

AND . . .

2.  Yoga seeks to calm the busyness of our minds offering the ability to re-connect with our true essence.

Our true essence is LOVE.

Ok.  I’m on board with that. 

Unite and BE LOVE. 

These are profound and universal truths to me.  

So, rather than looking for what makes us different and allowing this to create divide –  to allow this to be what makes us wrong – what if we accept what makes us different and ponder how these beautiful differences can be brought forth to enhance our world?  What if we leaned in, broke down barriers, softened our fear of rejection, of loss, of not being enough and instead saw the differences as the gifts that they are?  Pieces to the universal puzzle.

United we stand. Divided we fall.

When we accept and embrace our differences we return to being more understanding, more compassionate beings.

We ARE LOVE.

“Judge nothing, you will be happy. Forgive everything, you will be happier. Love everything, you will be happiest.”
~Sri Chinmoy