Once upon a time, I was obsessed with convincing others how smart I was; I studied, learned, and then was happy to jump in and correct others, educate them, and convince them to see that my point of view (my opinion) was right (and they were wrong) And also, please notice how super spiritual I was (me - waving my mala beads around).

At that time of my life I happened to be homeschooling my kids and we were part of a local group. The moms in this group were wonderful and loving. However, they were into organic, vegetarian, and gluten free everything. And that lifestyle; I just couldn't wrap my head around it. We were eating non (all that) and doing fine.

So I listened to them talk about their natural everything, and thought (secretly of course) that it was silly. Until one day I didn't. At first I hadn't been open to all that, and the more someone tried to correct me, educate me, or convince me, the less I listened. But gradually I was picking up on things, learning, becoming curious, and opening up my previously closed mind. Then one day I was preaching with all the other moms on the power of being gluten free.

I had my own timeline, and I wasn't prepared to change my diet until that day I was prepared to change my diet.

It can be tempting to want to correct, educate, and convince people to go along with us and our current belief system; whether it's food choices, political opinions, or spiritual beliefs.

In an age where every fact can be both confirmed and refuted, depending on our opinion, it's pointless to try to convince others that we know how they can do things better. We carry the most light when we choose to be an encouraging example, and allow others the dignity of their own timeline.

We are more likely to come to greater understanding when we have those shining and encouraging examples in our life, creating a space for us where we feel safe to open our minds and trade our judgment for curiosity.