I don't like pudding
Many people, religions, businesses and organizations try to embrace diversity, show tolerance, have inclusion and accept everyone. I think that while these are certainly good goals, especially given where we have come from, we should take it one step further. We should lovingly and selfishly appreciate other people and other ideas. Accepting and tolerating are negative sounding terms. Appreciating means that we listen to other people, hear their ideas, understand their history and culture, and enjoy what they bring to creation. I say selfishly because when we go beyond first impressions or accepting/rejecting based on categories - religion, race, sexuality, gender, location, politics, etc., we stand ready to ponder new ideas, eat new foods, play new games, relax with new forms of entertainment and many other free surprises. The other person benefits and we benefit as well.
This does not mean that we need to like everything or everyone, but if you don't like a person, idea or whatever, at least know that you tried it and gave the person a chance to enrich our lives, and hopefully we do the same for them. I like Jello. It's cool, it's tasty, it's low calorie and fun to eat. I like Jello. I don't like pudding. It makes be gag. I tried it, and nothing against people that like it, but it's not for me. I like bread pudding. I wasn't going to try it, because it sounded like pudding, but I did and it is a treat. How much fun, how many good ideas, how much can we gain and share if we treat ideas and people like Jello and pudding?
