This is taken from the Daily OM – June 24, 2011
Beauty of Diversity
You could find it easier to accept others’ viewpoints today, which may make you more tolerant of opinions and beliefs that differ from yours. Embracing differences could be a way for you to gain a deeper sense of connection with others, which then may help you to transform your own view of the world. Perhaps today you could see a foreign film or delve into the literature of another culture in order to see your life through a different lens. You may realize that coming into contact with other ways of thinking through cross-cultural experiences can expose you to new ideas and give you enough perspective to appreciate what you most value about your own points of view and experiences.
Going beyond our own cultural experiences opens our world and expands the boundaries of our belief systems. By coming into contact with ways of thinking that are different from our own, we begin to see that often we limit ourselves, for our thoughts about the world are often derived by remaining within the confines of our cultural norms. Stepping outside our culture, however, lets us see that there is so much more to the world than what we previously had realized; the beauty of our world comes from the diversity that is contained within it, which in turn gives us a greater sense of empathy and understanding of others’ differences. Opening yourself to the variety that exists in this world will bring you to a deeper acceptance of other ways of being today.
