Once we recognize our differences as individuals, the path toward peace is suddenly much clearer
By Charles “Al” Huth
Times like these make life feel dark, as though a shadow is masking the world and we cannot find the light. Conflicts span the globe, and it seems there is no end in sight. Controversial political leaders bring little hope. Anger, rage and divisiveness seem to dominate the news. Yes, the world seems to be dominated by uncannily powerful forces — but they can be changed for the better.
We are born into this world with little more than raw materials. We have certain genetic propensities but, by and large, our view of the world is dependent on our environment. What is right or wrong gets taught to us. Positive or negative traits get ingrained into our minds. What is normal or abnormal comes to us by soaking in the data of our environmental patterns. This is how cultures form. It is a repeated pattern of living that becomes the expected way of living.
In African countries, for example, dance is a massive part of the culture. From infancy, children are surrounded by each tribe’s particular style of dance. It becomes an expected and normal part of their day. Contrastingly, in much of Northern Europe, being stoic and demure is more of the expected way of being. Dance is less a part of that culture. Neither culture is right or wrong in their expression of dance; they are simply different.
The same can be said of all sorts of cultural differences: language, food dishes, popular sports, skin tone, acceptable career choices, how loudly someone speaks, greeting customs or how a person styles their hair, just to name a few. What a person sees and experiences in their upbringing will significantly affect how they view the world.
Unfortunately, this also means that we can assume some things are universally true or correct and that other things are false or immoral without proper understanding of our natural differences. This often leads us to treat those who are different from us as less than us. Interacting with people who are different from ourselves often feels like a jolt to our system, like our comfort zone of understanding is being challenged and, therefore, must be protected. It is easier for us to become defensive when meeting new points of view than it is to become curious and open to learning. It is primal for us as humans to want to feel safe. This is why anything that challenges mental or emotional safety can feel so threatening. It might not be a physical threat, but it challenges our mental version of normal and safe.
Instead of confronting our internal fears, we choose to lash out at the people who challenge our comfort zone. This is why, when one nation conquers another, they force their own customs on the other, just as Europeans, instead of learning from the Native American tribes, treated them as subhuman and pushed them to smaller and smaller corners of the country, often destroying them in the process. Because it threatened their mental comfort zone, they wanted to change the native customs to a European standard.
The even deeper and more dangerous layer in humans is that we view differences as a moral judgment. Anything outside of our cultural, religious or personal viewpoint must be morally wrong. Therefore, dominating another person is perfectly justified because if something outside of our normal way of thinking is morally wrong, it becomes morally right to conquer the thing that is different from us.
Just as cultures often clash, we humans often have negative interactions for the same reasons. We simply do not understand one another. We are a complicated mix of genetics, environment, current mood and so many other nuances. The lack of synergy between us as individuals is the cause of most of our conflict. We approach life with our personal filter of the world around us. None of us view the world exactly the same wat. Once we recognize our differences, however, the path toward peace is suddenly much clearer.
In every interaction we have with another person, there is an energetic exchange. By taking the time to understand our differences, we align our energies toward harmony and prosperity. Focusing on our sameness instead of our differences directs the spiritual forces into synchronicity. We are, after all, parts of a whole, the whole being the universe. By beginning with ourselves, and creating peace in our environment, we will start a ripple effect of peace around us. It might feel like a small change, but just as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. taught us, peace begins with me and you.
Charles “Al” Huth, M.Ed., is the author of five books and numerous articles. He teaches a class on human potential at OLLI at SOU. He lives in the Rogue Valley and is an inspirational speaker, teacher and magician. His websites are: Lighthouse-Empowerment.com and [email protected].
Want to contribute? Send 600- to 700-word articles on all aspects of inner peace to Richard Carey ([email protected]).
