I Could Never…But Could I?
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Often, I catch myself using the word NEVER. “I could never live there.” “I could never get used to that.” “I could never understand this.”
When those statements emerge, I believe them. They are right, after all. But are they really?
Just because someone lives a different life, or in a city or environment foreign to me, doesn’t necessarily make it any better or worse than the way I live. My comments are not meant to judge, but rather to recognize that everyone experiences their life differently. Whether they decide to do so or circumstances lead them in a particular direction. Whatever it is, it simply may not be MY reality.
My experience has taught me that I should never say never. For example, when I said I’d never reside in a small town, and then I did. Or I’d never move away from Arizona, and then I did (I’m back now). Or I’d never write a book, and now I’m working on number eleven.
It’s interesting how we humans compartmentalize things. How what WE choose seems like the “normal” way. I say, how can people eat bugs? And yet millions of people value them as a source of needed protein. Research for one of my past blog posts (Flutter, Scamper, Crawl - Can I Love Them?) about how many bugs we consume each year without even knowing it reveals at least a pound!
Since 1990, I have removed beef and pork from my diet. Those who love bacon say they could never give it up. Bacon, bacon, bacon! (Turkey bacon doesn’t count as it tastes nothing like real pork bacon.) And yet…
My point is, whatever we’re accustomed to and believe, maybe, and probably is, different than the person sitting next to us.
We don’t have to adopt or embrace the ways of other people, but remembering they are also one-of-a-kind, with thoughts, ideas, goals, passions, and struggles, connects us as human beings living on this blue planet. Differences are an everyday truth and what make us all unique and special.
So I’ve tried to remove the word “never” from my vocabulary…well, almost, because you NEVER know what’s going to happen!
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Find details about my books at dianedresback.com and my filmmaking at mindclover.com.
