I've never been a morning person. I just can't see the sense of it. Perhaps because I worked night work for nearly twenty years, going home to a waiting bed while grumpy, bleary-eyed people were on their way to their day jobs.
Others enjoy watching the sunrise. Mug of coffee in hand, they're eager to start the day. For them, their energy levels run highest at that time of the day. Mine run highest in the afternoons. Some of us require nine hours of sleep. Some can operate quite well on four or five. Isn't it wonderful how we're all different? 
Talents and abilities come in different amounts and areas, too. How many of you have heard piano players who've never taken a lesson. They just have an ear for music. Some people are natural athletes. In some cases, they can play multiple sports and excel at each. How do you cook? I can make a meal with no recipes. Perhaps because I've been cooking so long. Others couldn't follow a recipe if their lives depended on it. Yet I can't dance a single step with grace, while others move nimbly as if they were made of jello molds.
I like to celebrate our differences. I believe in the beauty of diversity. Do I want everyone to think like me? Heaven's no! Do I want everyone to behave as I do? Goodness, what if they did? Who would greet the sun to hear the birds chirp their morning songs if everyone slept in like me?
There is a serene beauty in accepting the differences within humanity. Is the person with the gloomy personality less important than a person who sports a perpetual smile? Is a person with blue eyes more beautiful than a person with brown? Is a child with a handicap worth less than a physically perfect child? If you don't think the same way I do about politics, does that make you less patriotic? Please say it isn't so!
Yet bullies zero in on those with differences.
Overweight kids, poorly dressed kids, shy kids and those thought to be weak in any way are targeted by bullies. These bullies have progressed from the playgrounds to the school buses to the Internet. Sadly, bullies grow up and become adult bullies. Often with power. As adults in power, they bully and putdown anyone who does't think, act, talk, and walk the way they do. They see no beauty in diversity, no acceptance of the uniqueness of the individual. They live in the ugly world of "Bully-ism."
I much prefer the beautiful world of love and acceptance.
Would you like to join me?
9 comments:
Powerful blog, Vonnie. Thank you for taking a stand. I'm with you -
Bullies come in all sizes and ages, don't they? I'm tired of it. We've turned a blind eye to bullying for too long. Thanks for your comment.
Definitely join, Vonnie! As a teacher of 11-12 yr olds I was glad not to have to deal with true bullying too often, since we always had a fairly strict 'Say No To Bullies' code. The hurt child can be very hard to soothe. But nowadays the opposite can also be true. The opposite side of the coin was deciding if it was truly a case of bullying or, as it was in many cases, sour grapes and just a falling out between erstwhile friends. It always took time, though, to sort out details and try to listen to all sides.
My husband taught English in inner-city Baltimore for 40 years. He said kids sometimes didn't realize the damage they were doing to the targeted student. He'd send the kid to the office to retrieve his mail and while the target was gone, he'd have a talk with the rest of the class--a heart to heart, telling them the damage they were doing. He has a way about him that so many good teachers do and was able to get through to them in most cases. Too bad their parents didn't teach this at home, but so many came from such disfunctional families that things like common courtesies and kindnesses weren't shown, much less taught. Your remarks are much appreciated, Nancy.
A profound post, Vonnie. I agree, differences make the world, my personal life, a lot richer and a hell of a lot more beautiful to be in.
BOO to bullies! That's one difference, one weakness I can't accept nor celebrate. And face it- bullies are the weakest of the weak both mentally and spiritually.
Vonnie--I shudder when I think of the bullying going on in schools. Although I taught in a private military boarding school run by the Baptists (we all had an identity crisis--what are we???)bullying still existed. You can't watch kids closely enough to stop it all. I found that girls can be some of the meaner bullies--Remember the movie, Mean Girls?
Accepting each and every person on their own merits is a worthy goal. Oh, if we can only do it.
I taught the Bible lesson yesterday to our Circle--the 8th Beatitude was the one about persecution--bullying in its most poqerful form.
Thanks for a thought-provoking, timely post.
Hurray! Let's celebrate diversity and learn to reject bullying in its many forms. Good post, Vonnie. Well said.
Its amazing how much damage a bully can do to another person. There was a time that even parents were the bullies, and it wasn't all that long ago. Thank God we now recognize the damage it can do and many groups are addressing it. Wonderful wonderful post Vonnie!
Well said, Vonnie. Bullying just sucks the joy out of life. And whats the point?
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