Difference is not always accepted or easily received.

It is different and challenges the status quo.

Difference finds no place when certainty, familiarity and that which are known are valued.

It’s dismissed, denied or devalued.

It’s different, of course.

Think about something that is different about you.

It may be your name, a personality trait, your gender, age, heritage, upbringing, faith or the colour of your skin.

What is it like to have this difference?  What challenges do you face because of it?

When a difference is not a difference we have, it makes it difficult for us to understand.

Understand what it is like to be different, in that way.

The challenges, frustrations and struggles those that are different experience is not in our worldview.

We ignore it, forget about it or disregard it completely.

I’m reminded by a verse in a prayer that goes something like:

“Seek first to understand, then to be understood”.

Finding that place inside of you where you know what it is like to be different, even though it’s not the difference others experience, is a start.

That’s empathy.

You may not have walked a mile in someone’s shoe’s, but can you tap into a place where you can connect to what it might be like for them, because they are different.

We get opportunities in every moment of our life to see the world through someone else’s eyes.

When we do, we learn, grow and become better.

I wonder what the world would be like if we invited and accepted more difference.

I wonder what it would be like if the brilliance you have had an opportunity to shine.

I wonder what it would be like if everyone got to use their difference to add value and make change.

It‘s in our differences we are greater than the sum of our parts.

It’s in honouring and accepted someone else’s difference, that our difference is allowed to shine.

The door is open inviting each of us to step in with compassion, kindness and love.

I’d love to hear from you comment below: What is your difference? What is like for you to be different?

With love,

Finka