Empower Newsletter – December 2013

Welcome to the December edition of the Empower Newsletter. It’s Christmas later this month and one way to enjoy it even more is to let go of expectations of others and to ‘live and let live’!

Did you know?

‘there is no right or wrong?’

‘Of course there is right and wrong’, I hear you say! Let me elaborate. I don’t mean breaking the law; I am referring to everyday beliefs, some of which are trivial and others not so trivial.

Things such as views on how we should raise children, our religious and spiritual beliefs, how we should behave in public, how often we should ring our friends, what is spoken about and what is not, what clothes people should and shouldn’t wear, having cosmetic surgery, being on time and even whether or not we should swear.

We have views on how we believe everything should be and if it is not that particular way, it must be ‘wrong’! It is not something we consciously think about, it is instinctual for most of us.

Have you ever wondered what it is about feeling ‘wrong’ that makes us want to justify that we are right, sometimes at any cost? Well for most people it can make them feel inferior, stupid or even not as good as the other person. And nobody wants to feel less than!

On the other side if we are ‘right’ (even if it is only in our own mind) we feel worthy, smart or even superior. Almost like we have won!

So if we ALL think ‘our’ way is the right way, who is right and who is wrong? Especially when we all think ‘our’ way is right!

I believe nobody is right and nobody is wrong! By adopting the belief that there is no right or wrong, just people who think differently or have different views, negates the feeling of being wrong. And when we do not feel wrong, there is no longer a need to feel right by making others wrong.

By changing the word ‘should’ to ‘could’ in relation to an expectation of others and yourself, will help us stop making ourselves and others wrong. It allows us to accept that it is only a difference of opinion or belief, which covers basically everything.

We really limit the friends we have as well. Why would we become friends with someone who we feel is consistently wrong! It makes sense that we tend to socialise with people that think similar and have similar beliefs to us.

It may take some practice to stop thinking others are wrong and to start believing there is no right or wrong. There are just different beliefs! Eventually it will become a habit!

Definition

Live and Let Live

is an idiom in which expresses the idea that all should be able to live their lives in the manner they want to, regardless of what others may think of them.

Something to Ponder

“It is very unnerving to be proven wrong, particularly when you are really right and the person who is really wrong is proving you wrong and proving himself, wrongly, right.”

~ Lemony Snicket, The Blank Book ~

Quotes of the Month

“Things are as they are. Looking out into it the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.”

~ Alan Watts ~

“There is no such thing as right and wrong, there’s just popular opinion.”

~ Jeffrey Goines ~

Affirmation Corner

‘I am accepting in the same manner that I would also like to be accepted.’

~ Eleesha’