Give thanks for diversity...

From Jack’s Winning Words comes this tidbit - “What kind of a world would this world be, If everyone in it were just like me?” (Quoted in Getting Rich Your Own Way by Brian Tracy). My initial thought was – How boring would that be? It is out of the diversity of life around us that comes all of the things that make life interesting, happy, sad, frightful and comfortable. Without diversity in the people around us, who would we have to yell at or to hug? Without all of those differences in people, where would we find guidance for our morale compasses?

I’ll admit that I could stand to have a little less diversity (maybe volatility is a better word here) in our economy right now; but even this recessionary period will have positive affects over time. What we all need to be on guard about is anything that threatens that diversity. We are still a work in progress so far as ridding our country of racism, but at least we are trying. We have only to look at Afghanistan under the Taliban to see what happens when diversity of religious beliefs is quashed in any country and we have a history, built on the founding of the country of religious tolerance (of course we have gone through our own periods of religious intolerance or prejudice).

So, maybe this Thanksgiving, one of the things we have to be thankful for is the diversity all around us. We live in a country that not only allows it, but actually gains strength from its diversity. Certainly, the election of our new President is a sign of our commitment to that diversity and hopefully will benefit from it. Let’s all give thanks, in our own ways.