It is snowing here this morning, April 23. Not too extraordinary of an event here in the mountains for this time of year, but notable after such an unusually warm winter. The wind is gusting, and the trees in all their green spring finery are dancing back and forth; all while these little white snowflakes continue to fall. It makes for an unusual morning.
_________________
Moderator's note.
Understandably, we each react to people and events in our own unique ways. The path that each of us has traveled through life has been unique, informed by the particular sequence of events that only we have experienced. Thus over the span of our lives we will have developed response patterns to the various types of events that we experience.
This is common to all of us. And through our lives it has caused us no small amount of problems; with our parents, our teachers, our friends, our employers, our customers, customer service reps on the phone, other drivers on the road, etc.
All of us get upset, frustrated, angered, disappointed, etc. And not only do we react to other people and events based on our own unique life path, but we also react to ourselves; we react to our reactions. We get upset, frustrated, angered, disappointed, etc with our ourselves as well as with or at others.
Recognizing this, we can see that all of us share this in common. And when we see this, we see that others are not so different from ourselves. We each wish to be happy; we each search for that which will make us happy. Often we go after things that we think will make us happy, but ultimately find such experiences to be temporary pleasures at best.
We are all human beings. Despite our apparent differences, at our core we share a common humanity. We all suffer. We all desire happiness.
We are all worthy of compassion.
It is understandable that we react to people and events in the ways that we do.
But it is, in my view, important to remember that they are us.
It has been, and continues to be, the practice of this club that all members here should be treated with understanding, respect, and compassion. However we may see the actions of others, it is important to the health of this club that we each try to keep this in mind. And, in my view, it is important to our own well being that we remember this as well.
Please try to keep this discussion respectful.
