Devastated by the death of his brother Sitka at the hands of a mother bear, Kenai set out on a mission for revenge. However, the spirits had a greater plan—a plan to teach Kenai the power of love and understanding for all. This is the basis of Brother Bear, a movie which stands to teach us all a lesson.
Shortly after killing the bear responsible for Sitka’s death, Kenai was transformed into a bear himself. And to his surprise, Kenai became the caretaker of a motherless cub, Coda, who happened to be the son of the bear that he slaughtered.
Although he had previously convinced himself that bears were evil monsters, this belief was challenged as he lived among them and gained a true understanding of his new family.
As a part of the bear community, Kenai learned that bears are not monsters. They sought to protect themselves and their cubs, just as humans do. They lived and they loved, just as humans do. They feared monster-like creatures who they didn’t understand. And in their world, where scary hunters attack, the monsters are human.
This story is so much like the real world. All too often we base our assumptions upon our very limited understanding of others.
We see something that we fear, and we seek to change it or fight against it. We have a bad experience with one person who represents a group and we judge the entire group accordingly. A person makes a bad choice, thus they are judged as a bad person. A negative aspect of a situation is used to define that situation as negative. I could go on and on.
This closed-minded behavior creates massive limitation in our lives. It creates and widens the divide between us and them… insiders and outsiders…friend and foe.
So, let’s look at how we can revise our thinking and understand others.
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Find a positive aspect
When you have a negative opinion of a person, place, or thing, try to think of at least one positive aspect. Ask yourself if you are being hasty in your judgment, thus causing yourself to miss out on a more positive reality. Gather information from a wide variety of sources, including some you wouldn’t normally reference.
This will be hard for you if you’re holding too tightly to your current opinions. So, take a few deep breaths and remind yourself that you can see more than you have previously seen. You can find positives where there seem to be nothing but negatives.
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Seek understanding and increased awareness
If you have a tendency to judge, particularly when dealing with people, challenge yourself to seek a thorough understanding. Learn as much as you can completely without prejudice.
If you are convinced that someone is a jerk, try to determine where that behavior stems from. Did he have an abusive parent? Is she under an excessive amount of stress at work?
This may or may not completely change your opinion of that person, but you will benefit immensely from opening your mind. A little understanding goes a long way.
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Walk in their shoes for awareness
Once you’ve challenged yourself to expand your level of understanding, it’s time to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. No, you can’t become them as Kenai became a bear. But you can use your insight to feel what life is like from a perspective that differs from yours.
By deeply understanding others and considering what it would be like to become them, you are likely to feel a deep sense of compassion. And you may be surprised just how much a person softens in your presence when they believe that you genuinely care.
It is my belief that the absence of love and understanding is at the core of almost every problem. Nonetheless, the widely accepted remedies for issues and strife are more likely to increase this deficiency.
I can’t change the world by myself. And neither can you. But maybe… just maybe… if more of us will reach out with our hearts, we’ll find ourselves with less excuses for war, crime, revenge, and all other loveless acts.
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Nea is a Transformational Life Coach whose mission is to help you love your life.
If you desire the “good life” and you want to know how Nea can help you attain it, contact her now.
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Thank you Nea! Your website was a guide for me tonight, leading me to a greater joy and greater resources.
Many well wishes to you in all that you do!
Thanks so much for your comments, Rachel. Love and light to you.
Nea,
A simple and straight forward strategy, why can people not follow it. Treating people for what they are or can do, rather than what we think or have been lead to believe they can do.
I like your three step strategy; nice and easy to follow.
Thank you for sharing.
Regards
Paul
Thanks for commenting, Paul. It seems simple to me, but its so foreign to some. If only we could all see the good in each other.
Great post. If everyone followed your 3 step plan, there would be a lot less tension between people. Walking in another person shoes is very powerful. It forces you to see life from their perspective. Excellent piece.
Many Blessings.
Dexter(QuoteGuy)
Thanks Dexter. I believe more and more people are opening up to this way of thinking. I’m very hopeful for our world.
Dear Nea,
What a lovely and deeply compassionate post. I really relate to this. I think we often judge so quickly. We often judge each other, we judge those less fortunate, we judge those who are ill (mentally or physically), we judge those we are more harsh or “edgy”, we judge those who judge us and so on. AND it doesn’t do us or them ANY good.
I honestly don’t think we can judge another person without harming or judging ourselves. I think it’s impossible. Maybe it is only ourselves that we ever really judge, although it may seem like we are judging someone else but it is ourselves we limit, condemn, are unloving toward. I know that may sound odd but one way to understand this better is to HONESTLY ask ourselves WHY we even need to judge another person.
One of the many things I love about you work is the compassion you have for all people and all beings. That comes from one who has really lived and understands so many life situations from experience.
This is shared in a beautiful way. I think lessons are often taught best through stories. Thank you for sharing this one as I’d not heard it. This whole article really warmed my heart and is a very important reminder to us all. You are SUCH a bright light and deeply wise soul.
Sending you hugs and love,
Robin
Robin your comments are always so heart-felt. I’m so touched by your words. Thank you so much for coming here to share your wisdom, insight, and warmth. Much love to you my friend.
Wow, another great perspective, I absolutely love this blog, I completely understand your point because my son owns the DVD, he’s watched it so many times until it just won’t play anymore, I’ve watched it several times with him as well and it really is a great message that I wish everyone would understand, thanks for writing this. Maybe you’ve just convinced others to watch it to understand the message and hopefully they’ll change their perspective on life.
Your son has great taste in movies. I just love how a lot of the Disney films send such a powerful message.
Hey Nea,
I also think it is important to look for the best in people when we judge them negatively. It is human nature to judge, but there are always good things about people, no matter how many bad points you uncover.
If you can see the good in people, not only do you enhance the vibe you radiate, but you also are able to feel more joyful and comfortable yourself.
Thanks for the article!
Sam
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