This morning I sit in the quiet of my house … and it is not usually quiet here, so it’s a rarity … I am pondering on my day and how this week went and all of life really.  I spend a great deal of time thinking about being … my existence.

I don’t know if other people do this, or if it’s just me.  My kids tell me that I only talk about God and Love and things like that … it certainly seems to me that I think about those things all of the time, I guess it makes sense that they’re my topic of conversation too.

I used to be self conscious of this fact, like there was something wrong with me that I didn’t want to discuss the weather and other people and clothes and recipes constantly … and now I just own it.  This is me … I care deeply about these things, I want to discuss them, I prefer talking about things of importance … the other stuff?  Eh.  (I do realize that the things that are important to me may not be to another person … and the things that are important to others might not seem that important to me … it’s life.)

I WILL talk about the other stuff, and I DO “lighten up” and have fun.  But I really truly prefer to focus on things that I feel matter more to me than just the “earthly” stuff that is so NOT important.

Here’s the thing that I’ve learned … I’m unique.  Each of us is.  And this is exactly as it should be.  I should definitely not apologize for being me and for liking what I like and I should not feel guilty or ashamed or anything  like that.  I OWN IT.  I am this and I love who I am and I believe BECAUSE I am this, it is perfect and whole and exactly who God made me to be.

And in that same thought … I accept who YOU are without judgement.  You be you.  Do you LOVE talking about weather?  Awesome!  Do it!  Talk about it!  When I’m with you I will share in your love for weather.  I love a good wind and adore foggy mornings and the sunrise and sunset are some of my favorite things.

When we focus on SIMILARITIES instead of DIFFERENCES it takes away the burden of having to judge each other and we can just enjoy each other.  It’s so fun to just love people and see their uniqueness as a good thing and to fully let go of worrying and care over what they’re doing and how it looks to me and instead JUST loving them.

I drive past trees everyday.  We have a large open “park” behind our house.  It’s glorious.  As I look at the trees I see how each is so different … even within the same “kind” of tree, they’re all unique.  This one turns this way.  That one’s trunk goes that way.  This other one’s branches twist and turn this way.  Each one is exactly and perfectly unique, different than the others, and beautiful.

Wouldn’t it be ridiculous to stress over, worry about, focus on, and judge the trees’ growth and differences?  Wouldn’t it be insane to be mad or angry at a particular tree for not looking right, or not growing how I think it should grow?  Trees grow!  Each uniquely so … for its unique spot in the ground.  The light touches each tree differently and each one has different soil conditions and different root configurations … so each tree’s growth is perfect and just what is needed for that one specific tree and its spot.

You couldn’t judge a certain tree’s growth based on another tree … that wouldn’t work, and is obviously a wrong perception.  Each tree twists and turns and grows in exactly the way that is needed for its unique spot.

We are each a tree.

I don’t have to judge your growth, your twisting and turning to the light … I couldn’t possibly know what you need!  I only know that if I LOVE you and let you grow, the light will do the rest.  I  have FAITH in that.  I am BELIEVING and trusting in the light.

I can trust that God will guide each person and inspire them exactly how they need to be inspired and so that burden is taken away from me … I don’t have to do that.  I only must love you and allow you the freedom to just be you, perfectly and uniquely you.

This release of judgment has opened up the world to me.  It allows me to truly feel unity with ALL people and to see that the differences are so tiny in comparison to the fact that we’re all human, and breathing and exist among the same energy that created us.

We ARE all the same!  We ARE all one!  We are all so unchangeably connected that if we even realized the half of it, we would only treat every person we see with the utmost love, respect, and gratitude for their unique beautiful existence.

I am grateful for my perspective.  I am not ashamed to be this … I AM THIS.  I own it, I accept it, and I love it.

If someone doesn’t like me, doesn’t like my perspective, doesn’t agree with me, thinks I’m crazy, thinks I’m wrong and ridiculous … ok.  I accept that judgment … I don’t own it as truth, but I accept that if you’re judging me in that way, YOU think it’s truth … and your perspective is just that, yours.  It’s not mine and it’s not God’s and so it doesn’t define me.  You can think that … and I will still love you and honor your existence because I know that I am divine … and I know that YOU are divine … and any little perspective and judgement is only for a moment.  I see what is reality, I see how we’re connected and I know that one day you will see it too.

And when you do you will understand that your judgment of others only really defines YOU.  It’s YOUR limited perspective, it’s YOUR focus on difference as a bad thing, it’s YOUR existence you’re defining when you judge.  When you realize this, you’ll only want to love, you’ll only want to embrace, you’ll only want to see beautiful uniqueness, and you’ll be grateful that you see in this way.

It is freedom.

We are all SO impossibly and beautifully connected that there cannot be any thought and treatment of others by you, that doesn’t also define YOUR existence.

I’m grateful today that I understand this.  I love that the burden has been released and my only job is to love.  It’s the good part.  It’s the easy part.  It’s the light and joyful part of life, and it’s so awesome that it’s the part I get to focus on.

What a gift.