I am amazed at how much I love the people of India! About 3 years ago, a friend asked me if we could go to India as we were preparing Christian business students to use their business skills to serve in underdeveloped cultures. I mean, really, we could have gone to a hundred, if not a thousand, other places. We ended up in India.
After visiting India for the third time, someone said to me, “you seem to just fit in.” I didn’t really give much thought to the comment until someone said: “when you speak, you connect with the people so easily and in such a short period of time.” At first, I didn’t think much of what was said, but later, I was reflecting and that comment came to mind. Later in the evening, I started thinking about the comment again and as the night rolled around, and I couldn’t sleep due to all the party noise outside the hotel window, so I began to write this blog.
Have you ever met someone who says they value others but their actions tell a different story? I think, like little babies, some people can sense if you are an authentic person or not. In fact, I think many of us can tell right away; it is something in our gut that tells us about another person. The reason we get fooled is because we allow ourselves to be fooled; we override the feelings we have about that person. I believe we have conditioned ourselves to “give the person a chance” when signals are flashing in front of us. Some people refuse to be authentic. I didn’t say they cannot be authentic, they choose not to be.
The concept of authenticity and openness are very different. Some people will say what they think others want to hear, but they don’t have the heart (openness) to learn from others. I think it’s important to remind ourselves that we are just people. Regardless of our status in life, we are people.
I was thinking with all my credentials and some popularity, it can be so easy to become so full of myself that I will not “hear” the heart of others. How about you? Do you guard yourself against that too? Have you had to do like me and remind yourself that you are not all that? I didn’t say that you had to belittle yourself, simply have you stopped yourself from being or acting as the superior one in the midst of others and become the humble one? Have you learned that regardless of what levels we reach in life, at the end of the day, we are all just people trying (I hope) to do better?
When we see the other person who may not look like us, talk like us or behave in the same manner that we are accustomed to behaving, do we look and say “I love that” and really mean it? Or do we look at that and judge that how they look, speak and behave must conform to how we see the world? Shouldn’t each of us look at others with the eyes of learning something different, yet wonderful? I think that is what openness is about. I didn’t say that one culture is superior to another. I am saying that when we embrace an “openness” attitude, we grow a little more, we accept a lot more and we love a great deal more.
So here we are in another year. I did a pretty good job accomplishing my goals of 2016 and I intend to work hard to do the same this year too. I realize that I can’t do everything and that’s why I establish priorities. That’s what I want to share with you as January starts to fade and the year takes off.
I learned long ago when I wanted a promotion where I worked, I went for it. When I didn’t get it, I tried other ways. When I still didn’t get it, I tried other companies. When I wanted to travel to Asia or Europe, when I couldn’t fly business class, I flew coach or discounted airlines and stayed in cheaper hotels until I got to the place and status in life where I could stay in better ones. When I decided to write my book and couldn’t get a publisher, I self-published. You see, there is always a way. Let me share a true story:
2016 was a tough year; A roller coaster ride may describe it for many of us. In fact, it was probably one of the most passionate and volatile times of my life.
FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real. When people say things, always remember, they are speaking from their perspective. That perspective is shaped by their life’s experiences, just as my perspective is shaped by mine. We can mean well, but the truth is, what has happened in our lives will color how we see things. If my environment has painted my mind to look at everything with a critical view, anytime I face something out of what’s familiar, I will experience anxiety. Fear feeds that anxiety, and if the people I listen to only sees the negative, that’s what I will see also.
you, but if I don’t watch it, I can easily find myself criticizing everything.
t to catch myself and stop to right away. I don’t want to be a person who becomes the crier of bad news and the person who is the Debbie Downer in every
st me or do you have trouble comprehending the anger seen in society today?
Dr. LaSharnda Beckwith 
