He asked me to make a list of what I hate.
I sat there stumped.
I immediately felt resistance inside of me as my initial thought was, “I don’t even want to do this. I like to focus on peace, love and understanding and I don’t hate anything”.
But I’m learning it’s a good thing to explore other people’s suggestions and points of view on life as it broadens my awareness and I learn something almost every time.
I began to get my footing around things I hate.. drama, picking on the weaker man, disregard for living things, animal abuse, taking advantage of others, hoarding, dominating, etc etc.
Pretty soon I was rolling and rambling off all of the things that can make my temperature rise.
I’m pretty sure that was the first time I ever thought about all of “the things I hate” at the same time. Even as I type this I’m having a hard time using the word hate.
But making that list helped me.
It helped me recognize all of the things in one group, in one place, at one time that I want to become the opposite of.
As I started going through that list of things I hate, it became more and more clear about what’s important to me.
Generosity, trust, appreciation, caring for others, service of others, and love have become more important than ever to me.
Ghandi said, “be the change you wish to seek in the world.”
We need to acknowledge the shadow side of things in order to know what the change we seek is.