Guest Rotarian Message
Rtn Ashok Mahajan Alpay
Chairman, Rotary Foundation India 2012-15
Celebrate+ diversity
But if we find them different from us or from our expectations we try to prejudge them and develop certain stereotypical opinions about them. These prejudge can often lead to unjustified emotional and physical injuries to them.
The principle "survival of the fittest" makes competition the yardstick for thriving in the world. There is too much that is competitive about our attitude that causes us to always view certain qualities as "better than" or less than" in relation to others. Consequently we develop an attitude of antagonism towards them.
Audre Lorde reminds us, "In our work and in our living, we must recognize that difference is a reason for celebration and growth rather than a reason for destruction."
It is not our differences that divide us, but our inability to celebrate those differences.
Have you ever considered how fortunate we are to be part of the organization called Rotary, where we can freely interact with people of different cultures, religions, races, opinions, and lifestyles? World Peace is our ultimate goal. However, we view the others with fear and suspicion, building up a prejudicial and competitive attitude on our part. When we think of all the differences we have whether they are local, regional, or global they are often over the management or the distribution of resources. If these resources are very valuable and scarce and if these resources get depleted, then there is bound to be competition.
Generally, we prefer to be around people who think or act like us or who are to our liking or who could favour us in one form or the other.
But if we find them different from us or from our expectations we try to prejudge them and develop certain stereotypical opinions about them. These prejudge can often lead to unjustified emotional and physical injuries to them.
The principle "survival of the fittest" makes competition the yardstick for thriving in the world. There is too much that is competitive about our attitude that causes us to always view certain qualities as "better than" or less than" in relation to others. Consequently we develop an attitude of antagonism towards them.
Audre Lorde reminds us, "In our work and in our living, we must recognize that difference is a reason for celebration and growth rather than a reason for destruction." Rotary would be a better Organization to work in if we could but stand for and work in solidarity , friendship , interdependence , and complimentarily. Instead of spending time focusing on where we differ and what we disagree about, we need to focus on the positives.
We can consciously seek and define strategies to celebrate our differences by acknowledging, respecting and appreciating the others. When you have a difference, it means there are truths that are to be addressed on each side of the difference. And when you have a difference, then it is an educational process to try to resolve the difference. And to resolve that you should get people on both sides of the difference involved, so that they can have free dialog.
When God has created us unique, why should we not celebrate the differences? After all, it is our differences that actually enrich and contribute towards our uniqueness.