Fate Agrees With Me

The world seems more polarized than ever. That may actually not be true (think World War II for example.) Yet somehow for this generation it is certainly as divided as I can remember. There is another layer of division that seems to show itself to me lately as well…and it’s a most curious one.

As the push to “take sides” on issues becomes more prevalent (are you a conservative, liberal, democrat, republican, etc…) I have discovered that I am no longer interested in taking sides.

Confining yourself to a particular group seems to be a narrow way to view, and experience, the world. Imagine if our workplaces had to take sides? Where would innovation and dissonant thinking have room to create breakthrough ideas?

So then, why is it when we leave our workplaces we should suddenly have a view that we cling to at all costs…defending, arguing over, and perhaps alienating or marginalizing others simply because we are X or Y or Z? 

The other tremendous risk that is taken when we write off those that don’t fit into our definitions of what is “the right way to think” purely based on a label, is that we miss out on meeting really amazing people.

I’m allowing myself to appreciate others with very different points of view than mine. And although I may not agree with them on some things, I’ve made some incredible friends that I otherwise would never have allowed myself to connect with.

How do you view those around you who don’t necessarily look and sound like a mirror image of you?

Thanks for being here.

Jay

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