Offense

I have been thinking a lot lately about freedom. Some people say that we should be free to do whatever we want, and if other people are offended, then it is their problem. Some feel so strongly the need to please others that they can't ever do anything they want. Is there a happy medium?

It seems that this is one of those eternally unanswered questions because it is so subjective. There is no one way that we can tell people to live that will apply to every situation that will please everyone. Since that isn't possible, what should our true goal be? To be ourselves unashamedly? To be considerate of those around us?

The brilliance of life is that we can choose. We can choose to value ourselves or others, or to mix the two. Either way, I don't think that we have the right to tell others not to be offended, just as we don't have the right to tell others what to do. We have the right to control our own emotions, and to desire change, accepting that change is something we must agree upon, not dictate.

This is where conversation comes in. The more I talk with people, my husband, and friends openly about how I feel and see things, and about how they feel and see things, the easier it is to get along and not be offended. And that is SO worth the effort!