I have been searching high and low for tolerance in the world of intolerance and I found it on highway 97 in the middle of British Columbia Canada! In fact it literally smacked me on the side of my cheek in the middle of a long drive from Vancouver to 100 Mile House in June of 2020.
I am so aware of the level of intolerance we live with daily as it has increased significantly since the beginning of the pandemic we are currently experiencing. The pressure to conform to one camp or the another is about to explode in my mind and I’ve frantically been searching for relief from that pressure since the beginning. I don’t like conflict! I do not do well with adversity and feeling like I’m swimming against the current! I have never been in such a polarized state such as we are seeing today, call me lucky or call me sheltered, all I know is I’ve never experienced the magnitude of intolerance that is present today.
Back to where this all changed for me! So here I am, on a drive from Vancouver to 100 Mile House in the middle of British Columbia. I’m escaping my realty of lockdowns at home, heading into the Cariboo to self-isolate on a 900 acre ranch. There is nothing like being in the middle of nowhere when you need to get away from everywhere! I was listening to the radio, singing along with some song when it cut to silence. I hit a dead zone, one of many on this route. That’s okay I was thinking to myself, I downloaded a few podcasts specifically for this reason. I will pop one of those on to keep me company while I drive. I chose an unknown to me, podcast called The Lifestylist with Luke Storey, who was interviewing a man talking about the current pandemic situation, it was two hours long. Perfect, I was about two hours away from my destination! Within seconds I realized that the guest speaker was a conspiracy theorist! UUUGGHHHH! I am so not into conspiracy theories, so I turned it off and found myself in silence again. This lasted for about five minutes when I decided even a conspiracy theorist was better than the deafening silence so I turned it back on. I gave myself permission to hear what this man had to say BUT I wasn’t buying in to what he was saying!
What transpired after that completely took me by surprise! What I found in his words were elements of truths that resonated within me at the very core of my being! For me what I was hearing via legacy media, “professionals” like Bonnie Henry didn’t add up, there were so many holes in what was being reported that were not resonating with me and I was feeling so lost in their words. Since the beginning I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right and I couldn’t figure out what that was. I put it down to, I don’t know enough about this, they don’t know enough about this, it’s so new, of course none of us know enough about this and I wasn’t willing to follow just because I didn’t know!
I have never been a very good follower, I tried when I was younger and it never turned out for me so as an older adult (over 50) I was so grateful to finally reach an age that it was okay to do my own thing! LOL, why is it that once we hit 50 our brains switch into “I don’t give a shit what anybody thinks of me anymore”. Another thing I’m grateful for! Anyway, back to my story…
As I listened to the podcast and hearing things that were resonating I came to understand that my intolerance of other people’s views almost stopped me from hearing truths that I was connected to! My truths! Then I was thinking, if I were to listening to others that I am feeling intolerant of, such as the Bonnie Henry’s, the legacy media views and other “lunatics” (not my label) I wonder what other truths would I hear? Finally, how would I know if I’m hearing truths or non-truths? These legitimate questions flung the doors wide open on a new way of listening to the sea of information swirling about this current event. This was my opportunity to practice tolerance, discernment, and really connect with my inner-knowing! To hear the elements of truth in the array of perspectives has become my life focus and honing the art of listening has become my practice. Combined with my trust of my inner-knowing I have finally found tolerance in the world of intolerance and not a moment too soon!
What I’ve come to recognize, when I hear things that resonate, they truly do that, they resonate! I feel, what I can only describe an inner warmth throughout my body, I can hear a gentle hum within my body and I get a rush of energy that pulses from head to toe. These are my ‘signs’ of resonation, I don’t know what will show up for you as only you can discover that for yourself. I do know that if you pay attention while listening you will also come to identify yours and your ability to successfully separate your truths from the non-truths in any situation. This skill alone will give you the freedom to make choices for your higher good and for the higher good of others in your care.
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