Divide and Conquer, NO MORE! | Positive Motivation Dog Training

Divide and Conquer, NO MORE!
Pamela Dennison © 2024

For once, not a dog training article, but a life article.

Okay, the world is bat $hit crazy scary and has been for many years now. No matter which political camp you adhere to, either gently, or vehemently, I want you to STOP AND THINK.

Think about your favorite hair dresser, massage therapist, physical therapist, painter, Doctor of any kind, car repair person, owner of your favorite restaurant, home repair person, computer fix it person, dog trainer , ambulance driver, fire fighter, the person that mows your lawn, roof repair person, the person at the counter at the DMV, the post office, the luncheonette, the bank, your friendly neighbor, your kid’s teacher, the rescue people that come and get you, risking their own lives, while you sit on the roof of your house because of massive flooding, or dig you out of the rubble after a tornado or earthquake…and the list is endless.

Does it REALLY matter what their political beliefs are? Would you, after calling an ambulance, ask if they are a Democrat or a Republican before accepting their help? Would you do the same if you called AAA because your car broke down? Would you ask the surgeon right before a life saving procedure, in the ER?

No one is going to “win” right now, UNLESS we stop fighting each other. We all feel we are “right,” but you know what? Screaming at the top of our lungs of OUR “rightness” is not going to change anyone’s mind to your way of thinking. It only divides us even more than we already are.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that.” Martin Luther King

So do I personally feel very strongly about the political divide? Of course I do. Most of us do. We’re scared, frustrated, we may feel helpless and terrified about the propaganda swirling around. Can we, the common person actually do anything, other than vote? (unless you have the stomach to become a political activist – I don’t).

Yes we can. We can be kind to each other. We can look at each other as fellow human beings and we can really think to ourselves, does it really matter what the political affiliation is for the people in your own life? No matter what you believe in, I can still do a fabulous job teaching you to train your dog; the Doctor, ambulance driver, fire fighter, will still do their utmost to save your life.

So, I’m asking you all to simply step back, breathe deeply, relax your shoulders and try as hard as you can to be nice to everyone and just like I “look at the dog in front of me,” look at the PERSON in front of you, without judging them on which Party they belong to.

I kind of think this quote, which I just found, says what I am trying to say: “Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world. It requires profound purpose larger than the self kind of understanding.” Bill Bullard

(and an aside, stop watching the news )