“Whatever you are not changing you are choosing”

I recently came across this quote that someone had posted on their Instagram feed. It’s a somewhat harmless quote, and a typical quote we see all over the place looking to inspire people.

However, this particular quote received an interesting response from someone, who said:

“You ever thought that this statement is easy to say coming from a place of privilege? Not everyone in the world is as lucky as we are and have the opportunity we have.”

“Ooohh, interesting!” says my ever pondering brain!

So the questioning began:

Am I coming from a place of privilege in the work I express into the world?

Are my messages somewhat biased, discriminatory, or even potentially racist in essence?

Have I missed something?

It was fun to explore and place myself in the shoes of each party above to see their points of view. I generally don’t get offended by these challenges, but somewhat excited at what learnings can come from it.

This took about 3 minutes of my time to explore and resolve for myself, but it made me wonder about how other people experience such challenges to their work, their projects, their thoughts and opinions they are sharing with the world.

What if someone doesn’t believe your opinions, ideas, your work?

What if they don’t agree with the way you see things?

And – heaven forbid – what if they don’t like you at all?

Change your perspective

When we are triggered by these types of experiences, it is coming from the place of ego. Essentially our identity, our very existence has been threatened – or so we lead ourselves to believe.

Where we need to be coming from is a place of grace, unconditional love and deeper understanding. A place of compassion and respect for one another.

Some other things to consider:

Everyone is experiencing life in their own unique way, and we are not here to judge that but to support one another on our journey.

Take a look from a big-picture view of all things and see what learnings come out of that for you. That which challenges us is there to provide growth for us and helps us develop a greater understanding of self and the world around us.

All opinions, thoughts and beliefs are as real as the person believes them to be. Therefore, their viewpoint of the world is true and valid. There is no right and wrong.

Back to the quote. . .

Ever since I was a small child, I have believed that we were all born equal, with equal opportunities. It may have been a naive perception I developed at a young age, or potentially a greater understanding of how things work?

Nevertheless, that is how my perception of my reality is for right now and has been for a long time.

Is it hard to accept that some people choose to be a part of life that exists in suffering and pain?

Yes, but it also depends what you believe pain and suffering are, compared to the person who you think is experiencing it.

What about those people born into cultures, societies in which they are oppressed, or treated with what we believe to be cruelty. Do they get a choice? In the world that I perceive, the answer is yes.

We all have a choice, we are the co-creators of our lives. What generally holds us back to making a change that we seek, is fear of the consequences, which in some peoples’ lives could result in death, pain, or more suffering.

Your perception does not equal reality

The other thing to remember is that what we perceive as struggle, pain, suffering, oppression etc…may for someone be just normal life. They may not be experiencing what you perceive they are.

What we tend to do is compare our lives, our ideals, our beliefs, and perceptions of the world around us, to those of others. And in that comparison, we seek to find commonalities and connections.  We place ourselves into these circumstances and situations and events and realise, “Well, I would feel this way, or experience it this way, therefore others should too.”

All experiences of life, in all its forms (meaning every human that is born), exist to teach us, create opportunities for us, and evolve not just our human selves or the human race, but for the greater contribution to the collective consciousness.

Now for the fun bit. . .

So I just shared my beliefs and ideas based on how I perceive the world to be.

Is it right or wrong?

Meh! No idea to be honest, haha!!!

What I do know, is that it is true and real for me, and I am okay with that. And I am also okay with others having a differing viewpoint.

Could these beliefs, ideas and perceptions change down the track for me? Of course! That is the beauty of being here, and choosing this adventure we call our lives.
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Groovy Humans experience life as an Adventure!