Don’t Expect Me (nor anyone!) to Sabre-Rattle for Your Cause

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Don’t Expect Me (nor anyone!) to Sabre-Rattle for Your Cause

I have causes, you have causes, everyone has causes. If my cause happens to be “the earth is clearly flat”, I have no expectation nor desire for you nor anyone else to join my cause. It is MY cause. I don’t think any less of anyone if they are not on my bandwagon as it is MY cause. I also hope no one has an expectation that I will rattle sabers for their cause. It’s YOUR cause, not mine. I may share the same belief and if that is the case, then great, we can rattle sabers together. Generally, my interest in other people’s causes is one of understanding why someone is mobilizing and participating in their cause. Unless your cause is a crime against humanity, I am perfectly OK with anyone having their causes. 

I had a good friend for a long time. There was a situation where he was extraordinarily passionate about something however, I did not share the same views. To me, it did not matter, I sought to understand his views but that was not sufficient. He expected me to join him in his saber-rattling campaign for that cause. I explained that while I totally understood his perspective, I did not share it. To me, it had no bearing on the friendship. In his mind, if I was not with him, I was against him and so ended that long friendship. That was unfortunate.

So, my wish for 2024 is that I have the intestinal fortitude to maintain my perspectives, to change my perspective if there are new facts, and to seek to understand and accept other’s perspectives.

 



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