Weekly Newsletter: Get Along

      One of the things we are expected to do in this world is to learn to get along. We will always have problems and difficulties, likes and dislikes, but as thinking, reasoning individuals we strive to find a way to make peace and play nicely together. Setting aside our wants and desires helps us achieve that goal, but if we bury our feelings it often comes out in not-so-nice ways. Verbal and sometimes physical fights erupt and we are left angry, defensive, and often ashamed.
      Getting along is not as easy as it sounds. Certainly our nations have shown how difficult it is, and so have our religions. For all our religious similarities, you’d think we could bury the hatchet and learn to cooperate for the betterment of all mankind. It hasn’t always been the case, but, at times, people do set aside their differences and work together.
      The key is to change our thinking. Instead of seeing the other person as different, we focus on the ways we are similar. Instead of looking at the darkness in them—darkness that we fear—we choose to look at the light in them that has the power to dispel our darkness and bring us closer. Getting along together shouldn’t be any more difficult than learning to play nicely together when we were kids at the playground. Take turns and share.