Human Tribe.
I love to wear my Manchester United shirt when I travel. It is a fantastic way to meet and engage with people who I would have normally walked past without blinking an eye. Whenever I am on planes or in airports it immediately becomes a topic of conversation.
People either want to connect with me because we are part of the same tribe or they want to belittle me because I am not part of their tribe. It is mostly done with good humour but I assume if I were to go to parts of England with the shirt on, it would not be taken so lightly…
We often try to identify people who are part of a shared community thus creating a connection. In Mauritius, I surprised myself at how excited I was to meet a fellow South African family from a remote town near George. I would have never noticed them if we weren’t in a foreign country. Yet, in a place where I didn’t feel deeply connected to anyone; I wanted to connect with the piece of home that they represented.
We often look at people as part of our tribe or not. We often do this with race, you’re Black, I am White. Therefore, we are different. You’re Muslim, I am Jewish. Therefore, there is an underlying tension. I believe this politically, you believe that. Therefore we cannot ever agree with each other.
While there are differences in our appearances, beliefs, interests, views and thoughts; what we often negate is that we all fall under the same umbrella – HUMAN BEINGS.
That means that we have all experienced some form of joy, loss, excitement, disappointment, confusion or anxiety.
Being human means we all have a lot more in common than we can see on the surface.
I often have to remind myself that people who are not from my community are humans who deserve respect.
I was privileged to be in Cape Town recently; where a friend of mine stopped to give a homeless man 50 rand. He explained to me that he saw this man everywhere and felt like he knew him.
In that moment I realised that my friend saw a human in need and reached out. A human just like you or me.
I humbly ask for us to develop an awareness of the fact that the people around us are human even if they are not part of our tribe.
–Imagine a better world together– 🌎❤
#kind #optimism #leadership #motivation #inspiration #care #human #human-centric #theoptimismblog
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