Dear friends,

My book, Peaceful Living: Daily Meditations for Living with Love, Healing and Compassion has been on my mind a lot lately. It turns 20 years old next year, which I feel joyful about. Along the way, I came across this meditation that I wanted to share with you:

November 26
Change your thoughts and you change your world. – Norman Vincent Peale

Developing Tolerance

I used to think that Chihuahuas were dumb dogs and bulldogs were ugly. Then one of my friends bought a longhaired Chihuahua named Tilly and another bought an English bulldog named Emma. Once I got to know these dogs and could see how truly sweet they are, it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with both of them.

Tilly has ears that stand up comically, with long strands of hair sticking out. When she looks at you enthusiastically, her ears stand straight up and the hair makes a fan around her face. Her hair is black with caramel and white, is very soft to the touch, and shines like silk. 

Emma is buff. When she walks you can see her muscles move underneath her taut skin, and you get a sense of how physically powerful she is, even though her demeanor is gentle and loving. Her color is gorgeous, smooth tan and white. 

I am well loved by both of these dogs, and they greet me joyfully every time they see me. Tolerance and acceptance are about loving the beauty in everything. In a sense, it’s about having faith that every living creature has beauty and shares space on the earth for a reason. When I release my judgments, my world is more beautiful and loving.

Make a decision today to approach your relationships with tolerance and acceptance.

I read this meditation again and found myself grinning from ear to ear. It truly made me happy to remember Emma and Tilly again, and how their loving me with such gusto caused me to see them – and so many other people, animals, and landscapes – differently. To find beauty in places I couldn’t see before.

It was also a reminder about how tolerance is born. It often happens when someone we love dearly does something that we judge as “bad,” and we are then compelled to examine our judgments. It can happen when someone leaves the family church or tells their family that they are gay, or they want to change their pronouns or physical bodies, or change their political leanings to the “other” party, and so many other ways.

An example in my life was when I started dating Kim (my wife). I have several members of my family who were (are) conservative and against same-sex relationships, yet they greeted us with cautious and loving arms and eventually came to love us as individuals and as a couple. I know that their shift in attitude was a strain, and yet their love for me was greater. Not too long ago, one of these members of my family said to me in a very casual way, “I don’t see why anyone is against same-sex marriage. Do you?” Wow. Full shift. Full tolerance. That started with love, acceptance, and surrender.

I wish everyone who came out of the closet to their families and loved ones was greeted in this way, yet I know many people don’t experience it. If you are someone who sees yourself as “different” from your family or community in some way, may you spend some time today and over the next several days cherishing your uniqueness. Maybe spend time with people or your favorite pet or a nurturing landscape, and celebrate the full beauty of YOU. 

May we commit to supporting each other in our quest for authentic living, and see the beauty in others who may seem different from us.

Sending love, 

CEO and Co-Founder, NVC Academy
CNVC Certified Trainer