We are all different and it’s OK!

I like nature and I enjoy walking through the forest admiring its beauty and breathing not just the fresh air but, also the quietness and peacefulness of the place. There I feel serene. I feel I am accepted just the way I am whenever I arrive and for as long as I stay. Yes, there it doesn’t matter how I look, what country I come from, if I am from rich or poor family, what is my education, income, religion, sexual orientation and color of skin. It doesn’t even care if my hair looks messy and whether I wear the latest fashion cloths.

It’s not that the trees don’t care. To them, it doesn’t matter. Yes, the trees make me feel accepted just the way I am. I don’t hear them say as well: You should eat more or less; You should dress differently; You should have children or have more; You should leave your partner; You should change religion.......and the list could go on and on. I am sure you all know all sorts of things people say to each other; ironically most often are by those that pretend to love us the most.

I also don’t hear a tree telling me: I don’t like you and you aren’t welcome here as you don’t look like us; You are ugly, too short, too thin, too heavy, too stupid, too smart, talk funny; You don’t talk our language; You don’t have the same color; You don’t eat what I eat; I don’t approve your choice of friends and partners; You are too poor or too rich; You weren’t born in this forest so go away; We don’t have the same believes. And, you will agree with me that the list could go on and on.

You see, first of all I am sure that trees don’t mind that they don’t look alike and they don’t mind as well that us, human beings do not all look alike. And to me, that makes them noble. They don’t have voices like us. They speak a different kind of language understandable only to them and the plants around, while the insects, birds and animals have their own way of communication. If there are misunderstandings among the living creatures of the forest it’s only due to a matter of survival, the primary instinct that they are born with. We humans are born with the same instinct as well but we go much further than that. We tend to like people similar to us and reject those who aren’t, not necessarily because they are a threat to our existence.

Let’s go beyond primary instinct and learn from the trees. Allow every living being to freely use the sun, water, air and earth. Accept the differences and focus on what is beautiful about them.

Whether we like it or not, the world we live in belongs to everybody therefore, why shouldn’t we rather develop the attitude of accepting and embracing the diversity and become better persons for a better world?

YES, we are all different and YES, I strongly believe it’s OK!