We've all heard the opposite of love is hate and they are basically two sides of the same coin. But I'm talking deeper than that. Deeper than just the measurable weight of the emotion - yes hate would be the right answer for that but what emotion, what substance leads us to love and then to hate?
While I was mediating on this, I began asking myself who or what do I detest? If you know me then you know I'm a peacenik and I try to never, ever use the word "hate". But there is one thing- one creature that even the mention of the word causes me to want to reach for a shoe. Spiders. The nasty, 8-legged little buggers make me crazy and yes I could say that I hate them.
(Hi, I'm Linda a confirmed Arachnophobe) <~ Insert random confession here...sigh.
Recently, one morning in the shower, I saw a dime sized black spot scurrying across the wall. A freaking spider in the shower with me is NOT how I like to start my day. Using my best Tae-Kwon-do moves I slapped, chopped and blocked the invader until I squashed him. I felt so accomplished! It wasn't until I had finished my shower and put on my glasses that I realized I had most definitely and completely smashed the life out of a piece of the label from my shampoo bottle...oy vey! So much for feeling accomplished. My hatred of spiders now seemed pretty ridiculous. I felt silly.
I started thinking, maybe people who are different than us- cause the same feelings. Fear-panic- like an itch inside that we can't quite scratch. We see someone that looks, or sounds different and we're afraid of what that difference might do to us. So we push them away- we smash them- at least in our minds and sometimes sadly-in literal terms. Our fear makes us certain they're here to hurt us (true or not) and suddenly we feel threatened. We rise up and take a defensive stance- feeling justified in squashing them with our shoes. But realize this- its not the spider er uh.. person that drives us but our own fears. We want the fear to stop. We want the offense, the threat of danger- real- or perceived- to go away and the only way to do this is to remove the person, place or thing from our lives. Like spiders.
I challenge you today, and I'm challenging myself as well, to realize if anything is going to stop the madness in the world, if there is any single one thing that every one of us can do to change the future it's this- stop the smashing and start understanding. Or at least stop judging.
Yes, very soon I'll joyfully hand over a piece of my heart to my new grandson. I'll hold his tiny hands and count his itty-bitty toes and I'll pray over him and his future. I'll pray he grows up in a world filled with peace and love and all those things this hippy grandma finds important. I'll do my best to teach him that the the opposite of love isn't hate- not really, not way down deep. I'll teach him that my ownhatred fear of spiders isn't because of anything THEY do, but it's because of the way I feel when I see them and how it's my own arachnophobia that makes me want to use my best karate moves to destroy them but in so doing, I just might hurt myself.
So, yea, my little grandson the opposite of love is related to hate. But if hate were a tree-it's root would be fear. And we can change the future- his future- their future by not letting those roots get started.
Accept. Allow. Love. I'm not saying adapt, but I am saying- don't judge.
Be true to yourself but know that not everything you see is here to hurt you. Yea, even those creepy crawly things with 8 legs have a place, a right, a purpose.
(Hi, I'm Linda a confirmed Arachnophobe) <~ Insert random confession here...sigh.
Recently, one morning in the shower, I saw a dime sized black spot scurrying across the wall. A freaking spider in the shower with me is NOT how I like to start my day. Using my best Tae-Kwon-do moves I slapped, chopped and blocked the invader until I squashed him. I felt so accomplished! It wasn't until I had finished my shower and put on my glasses that I realized I had most definitely and completely smashed the life out of a piece of the label from my shampoo bottle...oy vey! So much for feeling accomplished. My hatred of spiders now seemed pretty ridiculous. I felt silly.
I started thinking, maybe people who are different than us- cause the same feelings. Fear-panic- like an itch inside that we can't quite scratch. We see someone that looks, or sounds different and we're afraid of what that difference might do to us. So we push them away- we smash them- at least in our minds and sometimes sadly-in literal terms. Our fear makes us certain they're here to hurt us (true or not) and suddenly we feel threatened. We rise up and take a defensive stance- feeling justified in squashing them with our shoes. But realize this- its not the spider er uh.. person that drives us but our own fears. We want the fear to stop. We want the offense, the threat of danger- real- or perceived- to go away and the only way to do this is to remove the person, place or thing from our lives. Like spiders.
I challenge you today, and I'm challenging myself as well, to realize if anything is going to stop the madness in the world, if there is any single one thing that every one of us can do to change the future it's this- stop the smashing and start understanding. Or at least stop judging.
Yes, very soon I'll joyfully hand over a piece of my heart to my new grandson. I'll hold his tiny hands and count his itty-bitty toes and I'll pray over him and his future. I'll pray he grows up in a world filled with peace and love and all those things this hippy grandma finds important. I'll do my best to teach him that the the opposite of love isn't hate- not really, not way down deep. I'll teach him that my own
So, yea, my little grandson the opposite of love is related to hate. But if hate were a tree-it's root would be fear. And we can change the future- his future- their future by not letting those roots get started.
Accept. Allow. Love. I'm not saying adapt, but I am saying- don't judge.
Be true to yourself but know that not everything you see is here to hurt you. Yea, even those creepy crawly things with 8 legs have a place, a right, a purpose.
Namaste my friends. Be at peace. Be happy. Be the change. Be love.
