Tag: Spirituality

We are one, together we are whole.

by kendunning, posted in Community, Environment, Health, Personal Development, Science, Spirituality, Sustainability, Unified Field
Image (c) AlexMax http://www.fotosearch.com

What we are seeing, experiencing, taking place in the world at this time is a concerted effort to tear the human race apart at the seams. For over two years now we have been told repeatedly, continually, by corporatized, monopolized, mainstream media to fear each other, to stay apart from each other. Through limiting interaction to video calls, we are being conditioned to regard each other as abstract concepts. We aren’t. We are living, feeling human beings. We need contact with one another. We need the touch, the fine cues we use in our person to person communications, the vibrations of each other’s speech, of each other’s presence. Those aspects of our lives, our being, are not fully conveyed through video chats, if at all.

We are spiritual beings endeavoring to co-create a manifested world to enjoy living within. We are here to experience and appreciate the Earth, the air, the water, the living things both plant and animal that share this creation with us. It is ours, as a group, to enjoy and to care for. We do not own it. No matter how many deeds or other pieces of paper, or software productions, a person may have which state that they “own” a piece of the Earth or anything that has been manifested upon it, those things are merely representations of agreements among people within communities. Agreements to abide by certain rules in order to establish and maintain more complex, civilized societies. Humans make them and humans can break them. They are only as real as we, as a society, choose to make them, as we choose to honor them. As with every other social rule and convention that exists, they are devices intended to serve us, as a whole.

We exist as components within a great system of energetic life. We do not own the system, however, with our minds, our wills, both individually and combined, we can manipulate aspects of it. We can build, and we can destroy. AND, what we need to keep in the forefront of our minds when we are engaging in our activities upon this beautiful planet we occupy, is that whatever we do, whatever actions, energy, we put in motion are going to effect us with the same nature, the same intent, that we give them. Do we want love, caring, joy, friendship to be manifest? Then those are the activities we need to engage in. Do we want to see pain, suffering, deprivation in our own lives? When we are engaging in activities that manifest those things, we need to realize that sooner or later, no matter how far we try to distance ourselves from those actions, they will find us and we will know them.

The energy field we live within and are a part of, flows around and within us. We have a great deal to do with whether or not the manifestations within this energy field are beneficial or detrimental to our lives and the lives of those around us. Now replace the word “energy” with the word “spirit”. Because we know that this reality we live within is not just some kind of ethereal jello that we get to play with as we see fit. No, there is an inherent consciousness, intelligence, within the field itself. We think of spirit instead of energy, we know that. We, along with the rest of creation, are the offspring of this great spirit. In that this spirit is loving, nurturing, forgiving, this is a reality to be celebrated. When we reflect the loving, nurturing, forgiving aspects of the creative spirit we are a part of, we will flourish. We will know joy, kinship, love and great possibilities.

But when we engage in, or allow ourselves to be ruled by, thoughts and desires of fear, greed, hatred, jealousy, when we turn upon each other in service to these things, when we forget our interconnectedness, we pollute our own spirits and our world. We become as diseased cells within the body of creation.

That is why, if we want to realize the full measure of the beauty, the joy, the wonders which this creation, of which are a part, has to offer us, we must always keep in mind the kinship, the mutuality, the interconnectedness which is inescapably ours. We can celebrate that reality and realize it’s blessings, or we can engage in self-centered, egocentric, pettiness. When we stop, be still, and realize that as wonderful, utilitarian and enjoyable, or as terrible and destructive, as they may be, nothing which we can create using the material of the manifest world around us, can come close to the wonders, or the power, of the spiritual reality we are freely given as our legacy as children of the Great Spirit which has birthed us.

Imagine That

by kendunning, posted in Building our future., Community, Economics, Health, Personal Development, Spirituality, Sustainability, Unified Field

I am of the noble God mind.

You are of the noble God mind.

Everything is of the noble God mind.

How do things get so messed up?

Because the Universal Creative Spirit gave us free will.

Would you want a world populated by robotic beings all doing the “right” thing, dispassionately?

No surprises.

No joy.

There is joy and creativity to be found, in abundance, within the noble God mind.

It surrounds us.

We have choices.

We can choose to recognize the wondrous gift bestowed upon us, love one another, cherish one another, treat each other and the world around us with consideration…

Or we can choose to allow unexamined, egocentric motives to drive us to destruction.

Is it desirable to build a world bent on self-destruction?

Too often, we allow other humans to do to us what God would not; turn us into all but mindless functionaries.

Servants of petty, egocentric, motives.

Why?

What qualities within our human nature allow this to happen?

Fear?

An unexamined desire to be part of a group?

We can do better.

We can choose.

We can consider our motives, our actions.

We can manage our world, it’s resources, in ways that actively encourage and nurture, healthy, creative individual lives.

Individual lives within a society which embraces consideration, empathy and mutuality.

A society in which we work at a fuller realization of, and proper stewardship of, the gifts the Creative Universal Spirit, God, has bestowed upon us.

Most of us have barely plumbed the depth of the wondrous gifts, the miracles, the magical wonders which we, by virtue of our legacy as children of and within the Divine Creative Spirit, may access and benefit from.

Nor will we as long as we continue to allow egocentricity to guide our lives.

Under the oppression of the egocentricity of people suffering from inordinate craving for material wealth and power, these wonders will continue to be seen as miracles performed by historical figures, not a real and active aspect of our lives.

We have the ability to build a society in which the default motive in our dealings with one another is love, rather than fear.

A society in which we all recognize each other as, at the least, a best friend in the rough.

Wow.

Imagine that.

It is time to remember our humanity.

by kendunning, posted in Community, Covid-19, Healthcare, Integrity, Medicine, Politics, Vaccines
Image (c) AlexMax http://www.fotosearch.com

Over the past 6+ decades “our” Federal Government has lied to us about the JFK and RFK assassinations. Also, the Vietnam war, the Oklahoma City Bombing, the first WTC bombing, MK Ultra, UFO’s, 9/11, WMD’s in Iraq, and more. Why are so many people so willing to blindly accept that we are getting the truth about COVID and the “vaccines”?To the best of my knowledge, there has never been a time, nor a set of issues, when so many qualified, independent, professionals have felt compelled to speak out against what the Government and media are presenting to us. Professionals from various medical, biological, other scientific and legal disciplines. They are putting their professional credibility, their livelihoods, on the line to speak out.

What is the reason for the “tunnel vision” that has gripped so many educated, caring people? The “masses” have blindly followed the directives to destroy livelihoods, to impose isolation, to deprive youth of educational opportunities, to witness dramatic increases in poverty, depression and suicides. To be complicit in coercing neighbors to be injected with a known hazardous substance which those people did not want inside their bodies. All this based in fear of a disease, which, if left totally untreated, has a 99.9% + survival rate. If the WHO had not unilaterally redefined the term “pandemic”, from it’s traditional meaning, during the time of the Swine Flu, what is going on would not be a “pandemic”.

It is time to remember our humanity, our individuality. It’s time to stop trying to force our own health care decisions upon everyone. The value and necessity of individualized care has been a standard within the medical field for some time. Right now, are people which the data shows to be highly susceptible to adverse reactions to the vaccines being truly given the benefit of informed consent? Again, to the best of my knowledge, there has never been a time when those at the top of the pyramid of the medical, political and media establishment in the United States have so diligently kept accurate information about a disease, and about treatments, away from the general public. And there has never been a time when the American public has been so amenable to such censorship.

Deep within, and all around us all…

by kendunning, posted in Building our future., Community, Environment, Personal Development, Science, Spirituality, Unified Field

Deep within us all there is a connection. It is a connection with the infinite. When we are “in touch with” this inner reality which exists within and is a part of and available to all of us, it’s the most wonderful feeling. We want to stay there, we never want to leave, and, in reality, it must be true that we never do. But we are also alive here on the Earth, because we want to be. And the dynamics of our Earthly, sensual, reality can distract us from the reality of, the guidance of, our connection with our innermost selves. Our day to day “worldly” occupations and events can distract us from our connection with the Universal Creative Spirit. The spirit which we are all a part of and which ourselves, and everybody and everything else, exists within.

When we are in touch with, working with, our birthright connection to the infinite, to the Divine Universal Creative Spirit, we KNOW, we don’t merely think that, we KNOW that we are connected to, alive within, the infinite. We see it, we feel it, we KNOW it. When our motivation for action is coming from this part of ourselves, of our reality, a “miraculous” reality is working within us, with us. If called upon to do so, we can perform actions which place us in what seems, if we weren’t acting upon a motivation from this aspect of ourselves, certain harm, possibly death, and we will BE safe. Do you know the story of Daniel and the lions’ den? That IS the level of protection being in touch with, acting upon the pure motivation of, this innermost, most intimate yet shared with all, level of our being, extends to us. This I KNOW.

When our attention, our mind, is caught up with our Earthly reality, we are caught up with our senses; sight, sound, taste, smell, touch. I imagine, the sensual reality of Earth is a part, to a greater or lesser extent, of why any and all of us ever desire to be born here. The sensual reality of Earth can, at times, be overwhelming. The pleasures brought to us via our sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch can wholly capture our mind and carry our consciousness away on magic carpets of experience. And there is nothing wrong with that. In participating in the enjoyments possible with our Earthly body. We are just enjoying our Earthly birthright, our being. However, there is a catch. While we are here, in an Earthly body, we are also firstly beings of a spiritual, energetic body. And we were before we were born on Earth (and remain as such when incarnate upon Earth), When and if our Earthly body meets it’s demise, we will still BE as a spiritual, energetic being, within a spiritual, energetic reality. WE are spiritual, energy beings and, those who see auras tell us ,we can and do actually glow. Not figuratively but actually. And I have seen that sometimes, if our being is strong enough, if we are wholly enough in touch with our divine nature, we glow brightly enough to light the darkest room. When we are involved with our Earthly perceptions and desires, the task we all face is to experience and act within the “material” realm while still continually honoring our spiritual being. Honoring and maintaining what we need as spiritual beings to be whole, to be perfect.

There are those who proclaim themselves as messengers of God who might tell us that this is what other beings do, beings more special, more blessed, than any of us. Beings we are supposed to give ourselves over to by listening to what they, the self-proclaimed messengers of God tell us. If they are a true prophet, maybe we should…but only if. For one thing, a true prophet is not going to tell us there is any person, any being, who is more a child of God, of the Universal Creative Spirit, than any one of us. A true prophet is not going to tell us there are spiritual gifts or states of being available to some that are not available to all. However, just as there are beings who have learned more about reading, or writing or mathematics than others, there are beings who have practiced, studied, being in touch with the Universal Creative Spirit, within and around us, more than others. Having the wisdom to consider such a person’s counsel is very much a worthwhile thing. If such counsel is genuine, it will resonate within our own innermost being and our own innermost voice will echo such a message. Such a message will feel right, and, if we consider it’s nature, it will be based in love. Not a selfish love, but a love which encompasses all life. Which is not to say that such a love will never carry with it what sometimes seems a difficult message.

A prophet most widely known by a translation of his name, whom we most widely call Jesus, gave us some insight to our spiritual reality in many of his teachings. One of these teachings gives us insight to staying in touch with our spiritual birthright: Matthew 11:30, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” That is how it is. Our innermost voice, usually, speaks to us gently, as in whispers. Even in the most dire of situations, this voice maintains it’s gentle, loving nature, it may become more persistent, more insistent, there can be more energy, but we are always, ultimately, consciously left with the decision. And I venture most of us have experienced the sometimes immediate “oh no” that can result if we ignore the gentle counsel of our innermost selves.

Within the totality of our being, within our lives here on this wonderful planet called Earth, with all it’s beauty, all the sensuousness, we encounter, lies our task, our challenge: how do we live our lives in this wonderland in a way which satisfactorily honors both our essential spiritual nature and the physical realities of our Earthly life? As stated above, there is much in the way of sensuous enjoyment that goes along with being a human being on Earth. There is also work, and sometimes pain that goes along with it. It is only natural that we want to seek the pleasure and avoid the pain. And in the middle, at the crux of it all lies the work. Both the mental and the physical work needed to truly successfully navigate the layered, dimensional, reality of our lives here on Earth.

To begin with, we need to understand the absolutely interrelated nature of everybody and everything that is here, now. If we are involved with doing the right things, doing the things which most enhance life in general, we will be simultaneously enhancing our own life. And, conversely, we cannot do things which harm, or impede life in general, that pollute our environment, without simultaneously harming, impeding or polluting our own life. Some results, some consequences, wonderful or awful, show up right away after we have done the best or worst thing. We immediately receive the sweet taste of the honey we have just eaten, or we feel the prick of the needle we just poked our finger with. Some results/consequences take a little longer, some much longer. Yet, if we are in touch with our connection to the divine reality we are a part of, we always have guidance at hand to what is the right thing and what is not. However, as with all the decisions in our lives, the decision is ours to make.

If we keep in mind just as with our bodies, the world, the universe we live is organic, is an organism, and that we are organically inseparable from our environment; that realization can help guide us in how think and act in relation to others and the environment which sustains us.

Demonstrations, protests and riots are going on all over the U.S. Why?

by kendunning, posted in Building our future., Community, Economics, Environment, Innovation, Personal Development, Politics, Psychology, Science, Spirituality

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Why do I use Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs so often in my articles? Because it informs us of a concept key to a successful life as a person or for a culture.

In many important, essential ways, people, by and large, aren’t all that complicated.  Maslow knew this aspect of our reality and took the time to try to organize our needs by importance in relationship to our survival and well-being.  Of course we don’t always find ourselves involved with filling each need in exactly the order Maslow arranged them, however, if our needs aren’t met at one level, the more desperate the need we feel, the more we’re stuck on that level.

We need to keep this reality in mind when we are working to understand and/or figure out how to respond to the demonstrations, protests and riots going on in the U.S. and elsewhere.  What these events are, every one of them, are symptoms of unmet needs.  They are populated by people who can no longer stand idly by while feeling their innate human needs go unmet.  It might have worked for them at one time.  A time when they were, for whatever reasons, able to suppress their internal urges because they felt hope that a pathway was going to open up for them to pursue fulfillment.  But when that hope wanes, desperation comes in on it’s heels.

The “rugged individualists”, particularly the ones who have found themselves in comfortable positions, might say:  well it’s their fault, they didn’t work hard enough to take care of themselves, they’re lazy.  Maybe, to some extent, for some of the people, there is some degree of truth in that.  But there is something obvious that really flies in the face of that logic:  those “lazy” people are out marching in the streets.  They are feeling a need and somebody, or something, provided them with a direction.  When one is desperate, doing something, anything, even if it’s wrong can be preferable to doing nothing.  If a direction offers some degree of even blind, hope, it is going to have an attraction.  That’s how desperation works.

The fact people are out marching, protesting, even rioting, shows that, given a direction, they are willing to take action to do something, anything, to try to gain fulfillment for their unmet needs.  It is clear that what most people need in such a situation is direction.  What is being demonstrated in these events is raw, potential energy looking for a way to become kinetic, to provide what is needed to fulfill the unmet needs.

In a civilized society it should just be a given that we are working together to meet the needs of all.  Whether we privately own things, communally own things or work with a model that embraces the best method for the immediate needs at hand, as long as we have the mind that it is a combined effort for the good of all, we will be fine.

Have you ever been poor?  After two-thirds of the month has gone by have you ever found yourself wondering how you’re going to eat for the remaining third?  When you are in that position, and you walk into a grocery store, you want EVERYTHING.  It can seem that you couldn’t possibly buy enough to satisfy your hunger.  However, if you’re not poor, if you’re well fed and you enter a grocery store, it’s not that hard to be totally satisfied picking up whatever it was you came for.  People are like that, in more ways than simply regarding food.  When we are feeling an acute shortage of something, a deep-down need for something, we can easily find ourselves thinking we want it all.

No matter how absurd or grandiose the participants’ expressed demands in the heat of desperation may be, when the people involved see and feel their needs are being genuinely fulfilled, they will, however tentatively at first, begin responding favorably to whatever is providing, and shows it can continue to provide, that fulfillment.   To merely offer such a movement resistance is to stand squarely in the way of much needed hope and change.

A footnote:  This is not to advocate for a program of ongoing free stuff for all dissatisfied people.  In Maslow’s hierarchy, self esteem is a basic human need.  Working at a fair rate in exchange for what one receives is a part of healthy self esteem.  Sometimes a person’s being able to accept “free” stuff is needed in order to pull that person up when they are down, but it’s not a viable long term solution.

A house divided against itself…

by kendunning, posted in Building our future., Environment, Mental Health, Personal Development, Politics, Science, Spirituality, Unified Field

Fotosearch_k22192444
(c) AlexMax http://www.fotosearch.com

In our attempts, our efforts, at building a viable, vital society, we can learn much by observing and understanding the functioning of our own bodies.  There is a saying attributed to Hermes Trismegistus:  “That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracle of the One Thing.”   This is often shortened to “As above, so below, as below, so above”.  This concept, or the observation of the nature of our reality, provides us with an understanding, which, if applied to our efforts at creating and maintaining a human culture, can do much to guide us toward what will be in harmony with the natural world.  The natural world which we are working with and within and therefore toward a more vibrant, stable and enduring culture.

Our bodies are miracles of design.  They are self-repairing, self-renewing, and they offer us multiple senses, or avenues of interface, with our environment.  They provide us with much enjoyment and pleasure.  And provide us with discomfort and/or pain to let us know when we’re not supplying them with what they need, or too much of what they don’t need.  Ultimately what makes the whole thing work is the the organs, the cells, within the body work together to keep the body, the whole, alive and well.  One of the serious threats to the health of our bodies is the occasion when some cells become sickened and engage in a pattern of runaway duplication (growth) and a voracious appetite for energy.  One could say they get greedy for resources and want to take over.  They behave more competitively than cooperatively.  Of course, as our ancestors knew centuries ago:  Mark 3:25, Jesus states, “And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.”  

Now really, just think about that last statement for a minute, it’s not rocket science.  It’s something that immediately makes sense both intellectually and emotionally.  I think this is one of those truths that people just innately know, that comes with birth.  Yet it is one many people quickly turn their backs on when the world dangles some bling in front of them and says:  Go now and compete.  Within human cultures around the world that is the genesis of a cancer that is destroying our cultures with the same certainty that an untreated malignant cancer destroys a human body.  I can imagine someone thinking, but isn’t that just exercising personal freedom?   Yes it is.  And freedom is an essential aspect of a healthy human culture.  However, it is also just exercising personal freedom to take an automatic weapon to an elementary school and start shooting students.  Freedom is a double edged sword and is only an asset to humanity when it is combined with wisdom.  Such as the wisdom that if we aren’t all working together, cooperatively, for the good of the whole of humanity, the body of humanity, we are in the process of destroying that body.  And just as the cells of a body cannot survive for long once the body as a whole becomes unviable, no matter how adept a survivalist one might think they are, human beings cannot survive indefinitely outside a viable human culture.

All my life I have heard Charles Darwin exalted as one of the, effectively, high priests of the natural world.  I don’t think it’s possible to think of Charles Darwin and not think of the phrase survival of the fittest.  That is the phrase those most industrially disseminating information within popular culture have locked onto regarding Darwin.  But today those who are seriously researching Darwin’s ideas and adaptive strategies are saying friendliness and cooperation is the most successful strategy for survival.  This is just one more example of how spirituality and science are converging in the world today.

If we are to survive as a species on this planet we must recognize our oneness, our interconnectedness and interdependence.  Not merely within cities, or nations, but as global body of humanity.

The Lifeguard Principle: What it is, what is it good for, how to make friends with it.

by kendunning, posted in Building our future., Community, Economics, Personal Development, Psychology, Science, Spirituality

Fotosearch_k22192444
(c) AlexMax http://www.fotosearch.com

I am realizing that many of us, me included, have a tendency to readily notice and respond to the things in the world that are blatantly wrong, or problematic, and that this may consequently mean we simultaneously are not giving enough attention to the things that are right. 

I first became aware of this tendency decades ago when I worked a couple summers as a lifeguard.  When I found myself in the lifeguard chair, looking at a large, crowded pool with lots of noise and activity, I had a moment of doubt.  I wondered how in the world am I going to see someone in trouble in this chaos?  I asked an older lifeguard that question and he replied that I just needed to keep my eyes on the pool and if someone got into trouble, I’d see it.  Sounds too simple, right?  It isn’t.  As it turns out our attention is drawn to the things that aren’t right.  Whether it is inconsistencies, differences in movement, sometimes the obvious shout for “help”, or some other more esoteric phenomenon, it is a reliably real thing.  I would always find my attention drawn to someone in trouble.  Sometimes a few seconds before they were actually experiencing the distress.  Of course it is also true that my mindset, my internal desire, was to see such occurrences.  That may be a part of the function at work.  I began calling this tendency to have our attention drawn to what is wrong “the lifeguard principle”.

While paying attention and looking for trouble was an explicit part of that job, I think it is something we all do to a greater or lesser extent.  It definitely is a survival trait in times of threat.  Maybe it’s a carry over from the days when we were walking through forests or jungles and we had to be aware of our surroundings to avoid being eaten.  It definitely is a behavior that is necessary in times of warfare, one person, gang, tribe, nation, attacking another.  I believe it is universal among humankind.   For those interested in looking into such things, there is some correlate in the functioning of our “exciting” and “calming” neurotransmitters.  Our bodies have evolved in a way that we deplete our “calming” neurotransmitters well before we are in danger of running out of “exciters”.  I suppose that would help keep us from just lying down and being eaten when being chased by a tiger.  But now, in the year 2020, for many if not most of us, the dynamics we face in our day to day lives are not quite the same as they have been through much our existence.

It’s not that there still aren’t some acute dangers in the world; in some places much more than others.  However, the dangers most of us face in developed nations are more of a chronic nature.  We don’t get pounced on and quickly killed and eaten by a tiger, we get killed more gradually by being slowly consumed by worries, fears, anxieties, and insecurities.  Just as the nature of the threats has changed over time, our reactions to the threats we’re facing needs to change also.  A sudden, pervasive startle, fight or flight reaction to all the, sometimes subtle, threats an average person may face during their day would certainly result in a person becoming overly stressed, burned out, and significantly more at risk for a plethora of diseases.

Sometimes we need to intervene in what direction our “autopilot” chooses and become more reasoned with our reactions to life’s events.  Having an innate sensitivity to things that are “wrong” in our environment can be part of an important survival system.  Our “lifeguard principle” exists for just that purpose, to help guard our lives.  This brings to my mind a book by Gavin De Becker:  “The Gift of Fear”.  It addresses the important role fear can and does play in our lives.  However, with both the “lifeguard principle” and “The Gift of Fear”, whether or not these innate aspects of our being serve us or sabotage us depends entirely on how we react to the input we receive from them.

In our complex, more populated, human culture primitive responses to what are often sophisticated situations become less and less viable.  As a culture, we need to get way more invested in learning more about what it is to be human and what we inherently, and universally, require to establish and maintain healthy, vital, lives.  When we learn to respond to human, social, problems in a manner based in seeking to solve those problems on by seeing needs met and lives stabilized, it will benefit us greatly.  We are going to find ourselves in a thriving, vibrant world such as we have only had glimpses of, during a few periods of time in the past 150 years.

Within the current available knowledge from the fields of psychology, sociology, physiology, and spirituality, we have all we need to have more than a good start.  It only requires our will and determination to do so.

Always, never, sometimes, all, none, some.

by kendunning, posted in Building our future., Community, Personal Development, Politics, Psychology, Spirituality

Fotosearch_k17282832 (1)
(c) mrdoggs http://www.fotosearch.com

I’ve been writing letters to our local paper and articles for my blog for some time.  However, all that pales in comparison to countless conversations with many people over many years.  When you converse with and/or get written feedback from intelligent people on the ideas that you’re expressing, it can lead one to have to refine one’s communications.  That’s a good thing.

One thing which over the years I have had to face repeatedly in my communications, and which I often see in the communications of others, are the instances in which, by design or default, a person makes an all encompassing statement which, in it’s breadth, renders the statement inaccurate, untrue.  One often sees this in cases in which someone is angry about something, or purposely trying to sway the opinion of an already biased audience.  The thing about the heat of emotion is that it often abates in the presence of objective (coolheaded) thought.  This can be good if the goal is to find rational resolution to problematic issues, or, possibly not considered a good thing if the goal is to incite thoughtless anger.

One clue that what is being communicated is not based in reality, often is the use of the words “all”, “no”, “always” or “never”.  Or statements which clearly imply the use of those words, even if the words themselves are not present.  This is particularly true when the topic has to do with human traits, characteristics, and/or behaviors.  For example, and I am going to jump right in with a loaded example, if I write that all men are emotionally shallow, cruel people, I, unfortunately, may be accurate about some men, but because I include the word “all”, my statement is untrue.  The same is true if I omit the world “all” and simply say that men are emotionally shallow, cruel people.  The implication is clear that I am referring to all men.  But if I state that some men are emotionally shallow, cruel people, that is a statement which is defendable, true and accurate.  This same principle is at work if I make the statement that no men are shallow, cruel people.  At this point some reading this are probably going, yeah, been there, done that.  Some are possibly considering this information for the first time.

The difference this adjustment in our communication, and our thinking, can make in the world is tremendous.  We human beings are complex beings and, in our complexity, sweeping statements trying to characterize genders or races, referring to deficits or strengths in any particular area of our thinking and/or behavior, are seldom, if ever, accurate.  This is the case no matter the gender or skin color of the people being referred to.

So the next time you’re arguing with a friend, or your spouse, or getting ready to deliver a characterization of a particular person or group of people, please give some thought as to whether or not what you’re about to say, or write, is actually, literally accurate/true.  Sometimes doing this can lead us to realize that we are not correct in our initial thinking/perception.  Sometimes that can be a very good, comforting thing.  And it is always going to put us a step closer to resolving issues, reaching agreements.  It is a positive thing if we aren’t inciting defensiveness and hurting feelings by mischaracterizing those we’ve found ourselves in a problematic situation with.