Not Necessarily.....

Is it bad/wrong to be wasteful?  Not necessarily.  What if we had extra cake or extra pizza or food that we all now consider "taboo", if we wanted to throw that away instead of eat it, is that bad?  We all know it won't help the starving kids in Africa to eat more ourselves.

Is it bad/wrong to be decadent?  Not necessarily.  If we don't treat ourselves well, no one else will think we deserve to be treated well, either.  Who said we should feel guilty for treating ourselves?

Interestingly, even the definition of the word "decadent" from Merriam-Webster is judgmental...

": having low morals and a great love of pleasure, money, fame, etc.

: attractive to people of low morals who are only interested in pleasure

: extremely pleasing"

It's wrong to want things that are "extremely pleasing" to us??

If we all took a breath and thought deeply about whether or not other people are making the wrong decisions and/or taking the wrong actions, we can more easily see both sides of the issue, which is what tolerance is all about.  The underlying reasons for other people taking the actions they take are not always visible to us.  Is it possible to give friends and strangers the benefit of the doubt?

Getting lectured isn't fun.  I remember "authority figures" lecturing me until they wore me down, "yeah, I guess I understand it better now, you are right".  But anyone can give an alternative viewpoint that makes sense; it doesn't always mean they are right, though.  I remember an "authority figure" mocking other people's clothes.  Are conservative dressers better people?  Someone's external appearance doesn't show what's in his or her heart.

Who says it's bad to be wasteful and decadent?  We all are made up of alternative viewpoints.  If we were all the same, there wouldn't be alternatives.  It's good to have different opinions.  I used to live my life trying to be perfect, never wasting, never making a decadent choice.  It was a life of misery and I never did receive that "gold star" I was hoping for...

Of course, trying to do our best means understanding the bigger picture of saving the world and sharing the wealth.  However, tolerance of ourselves and others for not being perfect all of the time gives us the chance to understand what we feel and why we feel the way we do about hot topics.  Of course I catch myself judging people.  Having an awareness of it helps me do it less often.  If you are hard on yourself for "splurging" or treating yourself well, how does it help the world to put yourself down?

Thank you for the gift of giving me the understanding alternative points of view.  I don't have to agree with someone on every topic to like them or support them.  I just have to know that it's OK to have differing viewpoints (unless, as always, we are engaging in illegal activities).

Have a great day!

xo
Conni