celebrate differences between people

Barack Obama’s inspiration victory speech included the following:

“It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.”

Words such as these bring hope that such sentiments will also extend beyond the borders of the USA.

The answer is different for everyone, isn’t it? I think part of any person’s journey in life is to understand more deeply what makes them tick, what stirs their passions, what makes them happy.

Sure, as humans, we all have fundamental characteristics in common. But part of the fun is trying to discover what makes others tick, don’t you think?

Hats off to Adam Spencer, host of the breakfast show on ABC Radio 702 in Sydney. On 9th November he will be hosting a special program, The World in Sydney, in which Sydney-siders who hail from many different countries in the world will join together to celebrate Sydney’s ethnic diversity. At last count, people from nearly 100 different countries of origin had registered.

We are all born with and develop different strengths and weaknesses. Not only that, we have our good days and bad days. Sometimes there are factors that adverserly affect our ability to perform at our best.

I think it is important to remember this when I am tempted to compare myself with someone else. I find it easy to compare myself unfavourably with others without stopping to recognise that I have different strengths. Conversely there are times when I find myself thinking that I am superior to someone else because I am making a narrow comparison. Again, I should stop to appreciate the other person’s strengths which I don’t have.

So, I say we should celebrate different people’s different strengths. After all, that allows us to help each other.

It must be late in the evening. What follows is a tad philosophical.

One thing that has fascinated me over the years is the variety of belief systems prevalent in different cultures and communities around the world. Some religious beliefs have thousands of years of history and tradition behind them whereas modern secular beliefs tend to be more evidence-based.

Having been brought up to question religious belief rather than adhere to the prevailing Christian tradition of my society and subsequently studied Science and the Philosophy of Science I find it impossible to personally accept faith-based belief systems. And I also think it is important for children to be well educated in how Science can explain many of the wonders of the world rather than allow children to be indoctrinated into the religious belief systems of their parents.

However, I respect the right of everybody to choose their own beliefs so long as they do not hurt others as a direct consequence. There is certainly a wide spectrum of philosophies amongst humanity. My hope is that despite our differences, people can learn to be more at peace with each other.

I was lucky enough to spend a few days with my parents recently and one thing that it reinforced was that, whilst we all share some common interests – for example a love of books, my siblings, my parents and I are all very different.

And I think that’s something to be thankful for.

From time to time I have been made aware of psychological theories about different personality types (e.g. DISC, Myers-Briggs). Whilst I take these theories with a grain of salt because everyone is different and I don’t think you can categorise personalities to that extent, I think it’s useful to be reminded that everyone has a different personality.

In a group context, some people are more likely to dominate and show off whereas others are more interested in the welfare of the whole group. Some tend to be more analytical; some more naturally expressive.

For me personally, I think it’s important to be aware of different personality types in work groups and when I’m coaching sporting teams.

Whilst I’m in the city of Sydney, where I work, I certainly have the opportunity to celebrate differences between people of different cultural backgrounds.

I only have to look around me on the inner city trains and the differences are obvious.

Some visitors to Sydney are surprised to see the ethnic diversity. To me it’s a blessing. Not only do I have the opportunity to better understand different cultures but the choices for food are fantastic!

I’m finding this a useful goal in many different contexts.

Whether it be collaborating with others in my work group, reminding myself that women think differently or appreciating the qualities that people from different cultures have, it’s helpful to concentrate on the positive aspects of people being different.

Of course, I’m human and I sometimes lapse into frustration or prejudice. When I do I need to remind myself that variety is the spice of life, as the saying goes, and that definitely applies to people.

When I find myself becoming frustrated because someone else seems disorganised I need to remind myself to chill out. Perhaps that other person has other priorites that are more important to them. Or perhaps they just have a different natural way of organising their activities.

So… time to chill!