Seriously? Stop Expecting Other People to "Be Like You!"

For me, part of the joy of this Human Experience is the almost unending variety and diversity this life has to offer.

So many different people in our world, each as unique and individual as a snowflake... and I don't mean that in some creepy "woke" way!

In spite of this cornucopia of variety being pretty self-evident everywhere, it amazes me just how many seemingly mature and experienced people end up suffering and butthurt when they discover that other people are just not LIKE them, and don't think like them.

I'll be the first to admit that it's a wonderful feeling to encounter someone you seem to be totally on the same wavelength with! But (realistic) chances are that those commonalities only exist within certain limits of experience... and ending up in a state of disappointment and disillusion when you discover that your BFF really doesn't like your favorite flavor of ice cream, is really not grounds to become disinterested in who they are.

And yet? I watch variations of just such a scenario play out, all around me, on a regular basis. It seems perhaps more prevalent in the public arena than in our private lives.

So where am I going with this?

Well, it's a bit of a "revisit" to what feels like a growing sense of both entitlement and intolerance in the world... which also feels like the underpinnings of some of the extremism that seems to exist around virtually every corner, these days.

And it's a strange paradox — at least from where I am sitting — because we have all this "inclusiveness" rhetoric everywhere, and yet it seems like people are incredibly intolerant within the framework of their alleged inclusiveness.

It's almost like the time honored practice of dialogue and discussion has been replaced by angry mudslinging, the moment someone else's perception deviates even a whisker from someone else's.

I know life is stressful... but really? Are you actively looking for reasons to become angry and depressed?

And so, I find myself sitting here and pondering what seems like a very real possibility... namely, that we are gradually substituting "the need to be RIGHT" in discussion for what once upon a time was "an exchange of ideas."

What is the deeper psychology, behind that, though?

The easy out is to call it "entitlement," but what is that, really? Isn't it just fear of not "having control" of something? Why have we become so afraid of not having control? Why have we grown so afraid of "not knowing?" Why are we so challenged by the idea that someone who sees the world completely differently from us... can actually live peacefully, right next to us?

And when we are hurting and suffering, why are we so obsessed with looking for something or someone outside ourselves to bear the responsibility and blame?

There are plenty of times where my conclusion is "I accept and honor that's your conviction, but it's not how I see things." And it's OK to stop there.

I don't need you to come around to my point of view! And I full accept that most people aren't going to think anything like me.

Which still leaves with that angry intolerance thing, which I have talked about, before. So I won't, again but I invite you to take a few moments of your life to watch this fairly brief clip of Trevor Noah addressing this weird place we've reached:

People are not going to be like you, and they are not going to think like you... and it's *not their fault!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!

What do YOU think? Do people generally have too high expectations that others are "like them?" Why do differences of opinion scare folks so much? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 20221028 23:22 PDT
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