Recently… I was privileged to spend some time with my cousin’s husband… although they have been married almost forty years… they have never lived here… and we haven’t had the opportunity to really get to know each other… and… by most accounts… we would be unlikely friends… as at first glance we have little in common…
He was German born and educated… and well educated at that… he is a very successful business man… and has traveled all over the world… and is very cosmopolitan… in contrast to me… who well… let’s just say… I’m much more laid back in most areas of my life…
But the funny thing was… we started a conversation… regarding… entitlement… and as we began to share our views… his from philosophers of old… and mine… from… Bertha… and my Alabama perspective… they were actually… spot on the same… and so we expanded the conversation… to more philosophies… and although our words were different… we continued to have such similar values and beliefs… that I have to say… it was one of the most enjoyable afternoons I’ve had in a long time…
It would have been easy… to assume that I had nothing to add to a conversation with him… it would have been easy… to listen with a closed heart… and smile politely… but instead… I chose… to open my heart… to be vulnerable… to express how I felt and what I believed… and to listen to how his beliefs paralleled mine… and question where they didn’t… and be willing to come to a new conclusion…
Of course… Bertha… was pleased with me… for being open and vulnerable… but she also suggested… that perhaps… like with my cousin… I have more in common with others… who appear different… if I would just be open and vulnerable… willing to listen and share… and see where their beliefs actually parallel mine… and question where they don’t… and be willing to come to a new conclusion…
Then… she said… she hoped you would do it, too… and… we could watch together… as the world changed…
Jane
