Oh man, this quote’s got me feeling all divided. Day after day, I have conversations with both my own mind and with others in my life about how a parent’s actions (or inactions) have triggered them into a state of anger or anxiety, how a boss has totally curtailed a previously robust career confidence or how a friend has really fired them up with their unacceptable unfriendliness. But are all these other people who are getting our fine feathers ruffled really turtles? And are we the giraffes with our slender long necks all out of joint? And is that even a helpful construct from which to see it all?
It is certainly true that a giraffe and a turtle occupy the same space on earth but do not have the same worldview or perspective. But to posit that neither animal could possibly conceive of or comprehend each other’s unique perspective feels really divisive to me. And to even imply that a giraffe should never acquiesce or assimilate to what the divinely tall mammal has unilaterally decided is the more limited view also has a sniff of arrogance to me.
I don’t necessarily want to live in, or accept a view of the world, where just because someone holds a personal view that they have a broader perspective, they would also think of themselves (even metaphorically) as giraffes up high on some kind of grander pedestal. I would rather like to think when a turtle expresses a different view, a giraffe could always make use of its long neck to bow down to turtle town for a second or two and see what it’s like down there where he might be from. And conversely if the turtle was so minded, and felt like a ride up high to see things from a new line of sight, I would like to think it was possible that even in the face of criticism one could find a way to help the turtle grow taller.
If a turtle was to criticise me or behave in a way that is upsetting or offensive to my sensibilities, it would probably not be helpful for me to just write them off as a turtle who is somehow belonging to a lower realm wandering around in all the giraffe droppings. At a Vedic knowledge course that I completed recently, I learned a new way to try and process the pain I tell myself that others are inflicting upon me, or, that is seeing me use a lot of my daily energy despising them. A far more unifying one.
The teaching was that you cannot stop someone from behaving according to their level of consciousness (which is always the dictator of their behaviour). And news flash, smarty pants Giraffe, if you were them, with their particular stories, background, childhood or past experiences you would act exactly the same way. Yes, people are always reporting and communicating from the level they are on, whether that is a limited or expansive one. But the expectation which I self-impose on them that they will (or can) behave any differently than exactly what they are, who they are or where they are is one hundred percent unequivocally on me.
I have given my nervous system a good old much needed rest since being gifted this wisdom. Anger towards people who I have felt so hard done by in the past is slowly dissolving into empathy. A desire to turn away and separate eternally when someone says something I don’t agree with is transmuting into a more curious mind to look within and seek to understand the alternative point of view (even about myself).
Fact of the matter is that those parents who we are angry towards for failing us in some way probably did the best that they could based upon how and where they grew up. That jerk at work probably had a boss who berated and belittled him during a critical point in his own career growth. And that mate we have crowned Queen Mean might just have some private history she hasn’t yet built the courage to share that might explain why she is acting that way.
I am on a mission now to try to open my heart and soul to all perspectives, those from up high or from down low and everything in between. I am going to commit to trying harder every single day not to judge any perspective as particularly good or bad and rather find some peace from enjoying everyone for exactly who they are. Wasn’t it the turtle who won the race anyway?
#thehautequoture #wisdomyoucanwear #thequotesswiththemostess #whateverfloatsyourquote #noexpectations
Great! Loved it.
Love this 💛 and a corker of a last line!