Day 118

Day 118: Real Time


Day 14: 21 Day Complaint Free Journey


“The next time someone offers you an opinion, rather than judge or criticize it, see if you can find a grain of truth in what the person is saying.”

                                    Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff, Richard Carlson

My daughter surfed in a women’s surf contest yesterday. She’s been doing this since she was 12, paddling out among the dolphins, and yes, sometimes sharks. We may not see them, but we know they are there.

Kind of like the “grain of truth” Richard Carlson speaks of in the quote from his book, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff. We become so defensive when someone challenges our beliefs, don’t we? I think it’s indicative of a narrowing of our tolerance levels in this country, tolerance for those differences that don’t mesh with our own beliefs.

Dangerous stuff. Much more dangerous than most of us realize. Our country was founded on this very principle and we’re eroding it, piece by piece, opinion by opinion. Our skins need to be a lot thicker and we need to at least listen to strange and varied belief systems.

Like the surfers accept the sharks.

Day 14.