This is a word that keeps coming up during this quarantine. This is difficult because we are handling this crisis differently from each other. We are all not the same, we do not think the same and we do not act the same. So, how do we have tolerance for one another when some are filled with fear and some don’t care? Whether we like it, or not, we are all interconnected. We are all dealing with the reality of what is going on and we all affect each other.
Through deep understanding of one another is our path. Difficult to do even in your own family let alone a stranger. The word tolerance came to me while I was shopping at the grocery store this morning. Each aisle has directions stating only two people in an aisle at a time and no one follows those rules. My first reaction was, can you believe this person! But, then I took a deep breath, I felt my stress in my body and looked at this older lady and suddenly felt compassion for her. My stress fell away as I silently wished her well. I’m realizing intolerance is like poison in your own body that destroys you. Feeling angry towards somebody else’s beliefs and actions poisons your body. So, self-care becomes most important of things to try and handle. Doing this provides me to function in this world regardless of what someone else is doing or feeling. In a sense, it gives you immunity against something that normally would destroy you. I use the word destroy only because on any given day when you come across conflict with someone that is not like you and is not acting in your best interest can really take your well-being away.
Buddha once said, “Compassion is the most powerful thing that you can possess within yourself.” When you have compassion for someone that is unlike you they cannot affect you. Imagine your body and mind working together to always be at peace. Our mind is so powerful that it can affect our body is a positive or negative way. So what you subject your thoughts to is what will affect your body. So tolerance and compassion is your armor. Look deeply at the person you’re having conflict with and have compassion for them and wish them well. Total acceptance of this person, d even though they are not like you, they do not feel like you, they do not act like you and yet you are connected.
Stephanie Paige
"When moved with Love, it inspires everything we do."