Let's focus less on differences and more on commonalities

Happy Friday!

Hello, my readers. This might surprise you but I'm actually writing on this on a Friday. I hope all is well with you all. The weather is gorgeous out (I got to eat outside and I didn't want to go back in), which is a plus. I'm going home for the weekend, which is another plus. It is my hope you can go out and enjoy the beautiful weather at some point this weekend. Go get some vitamin D; it's free, but please, if you are like me and burn easily, put some sunscreen on. As far as I know, it's supposed to rain on Monday, so we should take advantage of the beautiful weather while we have it. Because it's Iowa and the weather can change so fast.

Here's the link to my latest Odyssey article: Here Is What Matters After A Sexual Assault.

Okay, I'm finally getting around to writing this post. Like I have said before, not everyone grew up learning the same exact values, habits, lessons, and etc. At times this can be extremely frustrating. But another factor in the "not everyone grew up the same" is perspective. Particularly in America where the country is practically founded on the idea that everyone is different; everyone will have differing opinions and viewpoints; everyone can disagree and debate; and this is okay, encouraged even. 

One of my favorite quotes about perspective is actually from the late Harper Lee's book To Kill a Mockingbird. It's something Atticus Finch tells Scout and she turns around and takes it to heart.  

This is why it is so important to try to see the world from another person's point of view. So often we get caught up in our differences and lose sight of what we have in common. This frustrates me about Congress. It seems like all I hear on the news is there is so many bills trying to get passed but none seem to go through because they are spending so much time focusing on the wrong things. 

This also happens in every day life too. We get so frustrated when people don't live the way we do, act the way we do, and so on. That's the point. We are wasting time arguing about how people should live, how they should act, when we could be discovering things we might have in common and enjoying learning new things. 

Until next week,

Thought of the day