I don't complain often, because I always try and see the positive side of a story. And most of the time there IS a positive side. Life is full of positivity, even under the most dire circumstances. Even death can have a positive side to it if someone has been suffering horrific pain from an incurable disease for years and years.
But today I'm going to complain. In fact, I'm going to bitch. Bitch about people who can't stand it if you climb out of your box, dare to raise a different opinion than what they are used to hearing from you. They've put you in that box as "artist", "horse rider", "a nice person", a "christian", "a maths wiz" or whatever. And they can't believe that you dare climb out of that box and give up horse riding, are sometimes not as nice as you appear to be or that you've given up religion.
A while ago I met up with an old friend from my horse riding days about 20 years ago, and the first thing she did, after all the necessary pleasantries, was to ask after the horses. When I told her that I had sold them all about 15 years ago, she was absolutely stunned, replying, "Oh my gosh! So what do you do with your life NOW?!"
Are their minds so closed and one-tracked that they can't think outside the box? Even just consider a different opinion? Are they scared a "different opinion" might harm their own opinion, might even, heaven forbid! change their own opinion? Or don't they believe in growth, in change? That horse riding has been replaced by other, new and exciting activities?
Are they not even interested in hearing something different? Don't they want to know what the rest of the world thinks? When I hear or see something that I've never heard of before, or that might go against every grain in my being, like hunting wild animals for sport, I am actually extremely excited to hear what that person has to say about it. First of all, it's a learning curve and, secondly, it often gives a fresh perspective on the subject.
Even though hunting wild animals hurts my soul, I've come to understand, through listening to another's opinion, that it is often a necessary part of life in the modern world we live in. Progress and destruction of wild habitats has made it necessary to keep wild animals camped off in dedicated pieces of land and, once the population exceeds what the land can carry, culling often becomes necessary. And for many sports hunters, these are now the only hunting options still available, organized and managed.
In a recent blog post on one of my Afrikaans blogs, I complained about the fact that Googling certain words in Afrikaans, like 'inspiration', 'abundance' and 'universe' only led to pages and pages of bible verses and bible quotes. Nothing inspirational, so unimaginative, have Afrikaners got nothing to write about except religion? (Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike Afrikaners, I am Afrikaans myself!)
Now, I've been posting beautiful, positive thoughts on that blog for years, never really airing much of my closest thoughts, and the immediate response from one reader was that I was attacking (her) religion, that I had now climbed out of my box and veered off in a wrong direction. Why do some people constantly feel the need to protect their opinion, their religion, as if somebody is going to steal it away from them? Nobody can steal anything from you unless you allow it. Nobody can change your opinion unless you have a change of heart.
I still don't agree with hunting, but I do understand the other point of view. I don't agree with people feeling threatened and fearful when their point of view is challenged, but I do understand their small-mindedness. For many people it is the only choice in order that they may feel safe.
Hats off to all those wonderful people in the world who are tolerant, non-judgemental and open-minded, truly free souls! You ARE everything!
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