We live in a world surrounded by so many people who look different to ourselves in so many different ways. I hear so often how children are bullied at school for being different. Parents need to be accepting and teach their children to accept others and explain that it is cruel to make others feel bad.
Imagine if every time you went out of your house, got on a bus or train or even just walked down the street and people both stared at you and felt that they had a right to comment on the way you look. People don’t have these rights and yet still do it, just imagine both the short term and long term impact on their self esteem. People in the workplace frequently endure people being cruel to them, under the guise of humour, they don’t like it and yet are afraid of saying anything incase they make the situation worse.
If you are about to say something unkind to or about someone, stop and ask yourself ‘do I need to make this comment at all?’ Am I going to improve the quality of my or their lives by saying this negative thing?
CBT teaches us to change our negative thoughts about ourselves into positive ones, I think we could apply this to our thoughts about others. A childhood comment I heard so ofter was ‘if you cannot say something nice about or to someone then don’t say anything at all’. I still like this philosophy and although I don’t always find it easy I do endeavour to stick to it.
If we could accept everyone as being another important human being with feelings no matter how large or small, the colour of their skin and regardless of what they look like I believe the world in which we live could be a nicer and kinder place for all of us.
Dignity in Relationships 