Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Las Gafas

Watch this, please.  I realize that the quality is a bit cheesy, but it is worth a few minutes of your time.



…Can you imagine what it would be like to have glasses like that?  What it would be like to be the gentleman in the video?  To be quite content with your frustration, only to put on a mysterious pair of glasses that allows you to see a person's true colors.  What would it be like to put on a pair of glasses and discover that each person you encounter has something going on that you otherwise would not have known about: Fear of intimacy or being hurt by another, feelings of discontent or a lack of purpose, addiction, loneliness, grief of a loved one, or a need for lovingkindess.  Can you imagine what it would be like to see people in such a way?  To see that the people you are surrounded by are not just "other people".  To see people for who they really are, not what you assume them to be.  To see that they too have triumphs and struggles.  If we were able to see these things, we would discover that we certainly cannot judge a book by its cover.  That each person we meet is worthy of love, compassion, and empathy.  That we really must walk a mile in another man's shoes before we can truly understand him. 

Now, imagine what it might be like to be those people?  What would it be like to grieve the death of your best friend?  To run away from home at a young age?  To be bullied?  To go bankrupt?  To feel alone?  What might it feel like to live through tragedy, heartbreak, loss?  What might it feel like to know pain?

...You see, that is the thing.  We  have all, each and every one of us, known pain.  We have all faced some sort of hardship at some time in this life.  Yet, so often we seem to forget that about one another.  We know that we must treat one another with kindness, that we must refrain from judgment, that we must not act on our frustration.  But so often, we forget this, and we treat people unjustly.  Or, if we are not guilty of treating people poorly, we may still be guilty of having ill thoughts or feelings towards them.  So often, we ignore the experience of others, or assume that we have them all figured out. 

So often, we let the chance to love someone slip through our fingertips.

...So what can we do about this?  What is the solution to this problem?  The solution, my darlings, is compassion.  It is empathy.  It is lovingkindness.  It is doing good for others, and doing good for ourselves.  It is remembering that we are all in this lifetime together, that we are all interconnected, and interdependent upon one another. 

Put on your glasses tonight, my compassionate birds.  Put on your glasses and see what does not meet the eye.  Have compassion for other people and show them how good you are.  How good you know that they are.  And if you cannot do this,  at least do them no harm.  Take the time to reach out and touch the hearts of your fellow birds, and in turn, allow your heart to be touched by theirs.  

-El  

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