At this time of the Holidays, many of us find ourselves engaging in conversations with friends, family members and others whom we do not usually talk to during the course of the year. These encounters bring up conversations and sharing of beliefs about the holidays, politics, religious matters and just plain living.

Many times when I was growing up, arguments ensued during these conversations. Looking back what I realize is that it was because someone had to be right and someone had to be wrong on both sides.

I recently found myself in such a conversation. It snuck up on me. I thought I was just discussing a family matter; however, upon further reflection, I realized what I was doing was trying to form an alliance against the other person, making myself right. Upon this discovery, I quickly disengaged myself from the conversation and began to find a more positive direction for the flow of ideas.

As I am thinking of this now, and as I know I will have more conversations as the Season continues and as I move into the New Year, I would like to declare something new. Perhaps it is time to just listen to what someone has to say. Perhaps it is time to accept that we are all in different places in consciousness, none better than the other…just different. Perhaps listening is the most important thing we can do. When we do, I believe we will share from a place of understanding. If we made it our goal just to understand and find our similarities, less judgement and separation would occur.

I think it is a powerful thing, a loving thing to stop trying to be right everywhere we go. No one is “right.” We are all experiencing life just where we are in consciousness. As long as we are not hurting anyone, things are just fine.

As we gain more understanding of each other through listening and really hearing, I believe the world of experience for all of us will really shift for the better. If we could look at our friends and families and the strangers we sit with as reflections of what is going on in our own minds, just think how differently we would listen.

We are all connected, reflecting back to each other our very thoughts. Listen and hear! Trying to be right could be our very selves convincing ourselves of something that we just need to spend a little more time with silently. If we spend more time listening, we could make some profound discoveries about ourselves.

Love and Aloha

Rev. Rita