Labels

There are many labels we wear around everyday…mother, wife, daughter, friend, son, boyfriend, boss, employee.  When people meet us, they ask things like, “Where did you go to school?”, “What do you do for a living?”, “Where do you live?”   They have to define us so they can decide who we are before they even know us.  By defining us, they get to measure themselves.  We are all put in a place, an order, before our second meeting. 

 I don’t think people even realize they do this.  I’ve done it.  Often, it’s just the way we get to know people.  It’s small talk.  I can’t imagine people who have just met skipping all of that and going straight to, “What is in your heart?” or “What motivates you and what brings you fear?” The reality is, in certain instances, small talk is what is appropriate.  

However, I do believe sometimes we do try to label people to feel superior to them or to compare ourselves to them.  My mother told me “Comparison is the tool of the devil.”  And I believe it.  If we compare and feel superior, that’s not good and if we compare and feel inferior, that’s not helpful.  The truth is we are on our own journey.  When we get to heaven, God is not going to say, “Well, Sue, you did okay but Janie next door had thinner thighs and a better car (and she went to Yale!) so you pale in comparison.”  No, we will be judged on what we did with the unique gifts and talents God gave to us.  We are running our own race. 

The labels we wear are temporary.  The boxes other people put us in say more about the other people than they do about us.  I love it when I get to know someone and they say that they are surprised by me…that I am not what they expected.  I also love being surprised by people that I may have labeled and put into a box.  It reminds me to remain open to all people.  God is in everyone. 

At the end of yoga class, we all say, “Namaste”.  Loosely translated, this means “The spirit in me recognizes and honors the spirit in you.”  Wouldn’t it be great if we all saw each other’s spirits instead of the clothes, the house, the job, the education, the family, the economic and social status.  I mean, think about it, the only thing that lasts out of all of those things, is the spirit.  That’s who we really are. 

Namaste.