I’m fed up with labels!

I’m not talking about the labels on our food, (Although come to think of it, maybe we should have that conversation at some point too!) what I’m talking about are the labels that are attached to feelings, movements and people!

Labels that are easily degenerated into hatred or bigotry like has happened with minorities, immigrants, those different from us or the labels we place on others so we can divide up. Labels like Republicans or Democrats, men, women, etc. Even the less diabolical reasons like simply labeling for laziness or convenience should be included.

And who develops, promotes and attaches these labels?

We Do!  (…ugh…)

I’m not saying we need to get rid of all labels whether physical or implied. But what we must start doing is stop letting those labels tell us how we feel! We must see the label but then work through the process and acknowledge for ourselves, how we feel! We get so hung up on wanting to label something so we can understand it, that we forget what we really want is to experience the feeling of it! For instance, you see a good friend walking toward you and think “…Boy, Bob looks good today, what a great looking suit!” We stare up at the the constellations we’ve named instead of allowing ourselves to  simply feel just how wonderful those stars make us feel. We hear that someone is a Republican, a Woman or Democrat, Disabled, a Liberal, a Conservative, Gay or a Policeman or Policewoman and immediately either like them or not, based on that label alone! We didn’t take the time to “feel how we feel,” we thought about how we felt about them, without feeling how we felt about them.

We label everything from the flowers and the trees to the animals to our clothes, people and organizations. You don’t need to label the laughter of a baby, the smell following a rainstorm or the gaze of someone you love in order to “feel how you feel!” Likewise, hearing the scream of someone in pain, the sight of a swastika being marched down your street or seeing the mistreatment of those less fortunate, tells you all you need to know about them because you ”feel how you feel” instead of needing to see a label.

Instead of worrying so much about tossing a label on something or someone, “feel how you feel,” feel how they make you feel! I understand that in order to do that, you’ll need to retrain your thoughts, retrain your mind to feel instead of think!

Aha!!! There it is! “…retrain your mind to feel instead of think!”

This is what we each must do! Begin that process right now, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing. As you walk down the street or out into your yard, don’t name the things you see, “feel how you feel” about them. How do they make you feel? As you drive down the road, instead of naming those cars you see or wondering about the drivers, ask yourself how you feel. Sitting at home, look around at the things you’ve surrounded yourself with and dial in not on what they are or what you see, but how they make you feel when you look at each one of them individually and as the group you’ve assembled.

Yep, I’m fed up with labels filling my head every time I look, touch, feel, hear or wonder about life. Instead of describing them, I’m focusing on how I feel about them. I’m focusing on “feeling how I feel,” using it, expanding on it, relishing it and yes, I am moving on from it.

See you there….. 

Peace

     …..Gregg