We are different, we are the same.

Imagine that we lived in a world, where everyone looked, behaved and talked in a similar manner – how boring this world would be ?

God has taken care that we look different from each other, else it would have been very confusing for us to identify people.

We have a relatively unique name that identifies us, though there is no assurance that your name is unique in the world – there may be few exceptions.

So, we have different personalities – introverts, extroverts, ambitious, laid back, polite, arrogant and so on.

People belong to different race. People within a race are also different to each other.

Our personalities take shape from childhood, upbringing, quality of friends, their views on people, the news, books that we read. It is unlikely that every individual on Earth would have a similar upbringing, friends, views about societies etc.

From our younger days, we tend to bond with people who are like us. We look for people who have similar taste in sports, music, books etc.

When we reach adulthood, we recognize that people we meet will be different from us. Yet, we expect people to be a clone of ourselves.

At work, people are expected to behave in a certain way. A manager tends to have a favorite who has a similar taste to how s/he would go about doing work. This puts undue stress to other workers who have a different style of working to the favorites. This is known for a long time. Yet, managers find it difficult to understand that people are different.

I wonder why we still have this debate about men v/s women, difference between people from different religion or race, when we known people are likely to have different views and ideologies.

By now one would have thought, men and women understand the fundamental difference between both genders. The book ‘Men are from Mars..Women are from Venus’ explains the difference beautifully. Yet, both genders fail to understand the difference in personality of the opposite gender.

Perhaps, this book must be included in formal education curriculum. I believe half the relationship problems in the world could be solved if people read this book and understood the differences between men and women.

Men and women are different, yet both have a common desire – to feel valued, feel important, respected and feel loved.

Can we do anything about how us humans evolved from the stone age  ? If we can’t change how we are, why argue about it ?

Businesses encourage diversity in workplaces, yet there is discrimination when it comes to recognition for people from diverse backgrounds.

It surely is not lack of education. Perhaps, we need education in diversity and how to respect every individual’s views, ideologies and where people come from.

Perhaps, the lack of this basic understanding and the argument that people have because of their ignorance is what make life exciting and worth living.

How hard is it to accept people as they are without being judgmental ?