On our last trip to Disney World, I hopped a tram to cross the park quickly. Once on board, I couldn’t help but notice an older man who was also standing. Finally, a gentleman got up and offered me his seat. I nodded and smiled in appreciation and sat down. Next I looked around to see if some younger person would give the older man a seat. An amiable gentleman scooted over to make room for the older man. How kind, I thought to myself; however, the older man refused the gesture. Yet it was more…he declined with an air of disdain. I was dismayed.
How could this seemingly nice older white man turn down this offer? It occurred to me that he had turned down the seat because the man who scooted over was black and overweight. I could read his bigoted energy. It telegraphed that he was prejudiced against almost everyone and everything. Most importantly, it reflected that he truly disliked himself. Life had been tough on him and out of fear he had become the antithesis of his soul.
I wanted to kindly judge him because he represented an old ugly paradigm. Instead, I began to send him love and compassion (admittedly this was hard at first.) Realizing I, too, was heading down that same slippery slope by judging him, I then sent myself love and compassion. Perhaps a judgment might have been justifiable by some, instead, I made a choice and went into my soul, and remembered we are One.
Live Your Wisdom, You’ve Got It, Too™!
