Is diversity a standard? It appears that way, look at the nature no tree is alike, no snow flake is alike and no dirt is alike. Look up in the sky, there are trillions of stars out there and none of them is alike; billions of galaxies yet each one is different, and we accept their uniqueness without an iota of doubt.Imagine going to a party where every male is 6' tall and female is 5'6". All men have their hair cut short and have parted their hair precisely the same way, and the women have done their hair as if it came from the same dye. All women wear size 6 shoes and are 5” heeled black pumps whereas all men wear size ten. Every woman weighs 128 pound; not an ounce less or more and men weigh 160 pounds on the needle.
Then every one walks up to the perfect rose garden ever; some 500 rose plants cut exactly to 4’ tall, and esactly five flowers per plant were blooming and each one of them is pink with 25 petals to be exact.
Who sets the standards?
A few men resent the hair styles of some other men or hate their pants sliding off over their butt; a few women would like to comment on the dresses of other women… think about it, who sets the standards as to what to wear?
There are nearly seven billion of us and each one of has a different thumb print and a unique DNA combination which we accept that as our uniqueness.
There are at least 250 religious traditions out there, perhaps even more, and each tradition is beautiful to the followers, then what really holds us from accepting the uniqueness of other's faith? Arrogance and insecurity!
Who cares if your faith is wise, older, smart, easy, simple... every one has to live his or her own life and is answerable in his or her own solitude. It is you within you that have to live with you. I am thinking of good ole Charlene's song, "Never been to me", she says, she's been to georgia, been to the aisle of greece, but never been to me. Ha!, that's where we need to go to be with ourselves and to live our own life and set our own standards for ourselves.
Diversity is crucial to survival and existence. On an abandoned Island after the shipwreck we cannot have men and women possessing the same skills, we need diversity of skills to get out of there. Tall girls and guys can pluck apples from a tree (if the tree is tall) short men and women can crawl into the cave and grab that hidden food the animals store for their use.
I wish I was tall particularly when a crowd is watching a street muscian to stand behind and watch with ease, I wish I was short to receive the full shade of a building in the summer... we wish to be everything we are not.. heck, it is time to be happy with who we are, there is no one like you.
Bottom line?
Each one of us is our own standard;we have to bear our doings and undoings;our anguish and anxiety is exclusively ours;we have to live with our bad dreams;we are responsible for our standards;Let’s learn to respect and accept the uniqueness each one is endowed with, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.
Be yourselves!
Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, writer, optimist, educator and an activist of Pluralism, Justice, Islam, India, Peace and Civil Societies. He is a conflict mitigater and a goodwill nurturer offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day and is a frequent guest on the media. Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/
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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, writer, optimist, educator and an activist of Pluralism, Justice, Islam, India, Peace and Civil Societies. He is a conflict mitigater and a goodwill nurturer offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day and is a frequent guest on the media. Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/
