I believe that…
- We know nothing to be 100% absolute, so we should speak with more uncertainty;
- Change is inevitable;
- There is good in all things;
- Everything is deserving of love;
- Emotions can all be boiled down to either love (peace) or fear (turbulence). We feel our peace or turbulence the strongest and it propagates outward. Hating someone is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies, but loving someone is like radiating heat and hoping the other person feels warmth;
- We can live a peaceful life by reducing promises, expectations, assumptions and control, and focus more on making plans, expressing desires, asking questions, and embracing change;
- The meaning of life is to guide each other to speak and act with more love; a rising tide lifts all ships. This can be accomplished by:
- Being authentic (communicating feelings, thoughts and beliefs);
- Being respectful (considering each other’s desires, fears and boundaries);
- Continually improving (lovingly challenging each other’s beliefs and effectively communicating to understand boundaries and close gaps in perspective);
- Effective communication to align perspectives with others is achieved by reducing the use of absolute words (ex: can’t, won’t, must, have to…), and by increasing the use of open words (ex: feel, think, believe, choose, recommend…);
- Effective boundaries are achieved by communicating feelings, thoughts or beliefs while considering each other’s desires and fears:
- Bad boundaries are communicated with absolute words, are seen as permanent, or are expectations placed on other people. (ex: “You can’t shake hands with other people. End of discussion.”);
- Good boundaries are effectively communicated, temporary, placed around one’s self, a response is prepared if crossed, and they may be recommended for others. (ex: “I believe that shaking hands can spread germs. I prefer to give fist bumps when people offer to shake my hand. I recommend that you do the same.”);
- By speaking and acting with love while living a peaceful life, our feelings, thoughts, beliefs, desires, fears and boundaries can be better understood, thereby closing gaps in perspective and reducing all types of human conflict.