Can't We Just All Get Along?

Late last week I ran across a surprising rudeness in a writing forum. Normally I don't hang out in forums anyway, too much on my plate, but I had the desire to connect with other writers on that website.

The attitude of some of the people and how they were treating others was so disturbing, I made the decision over the weekend to not participate or even read the posts from that site.

This morning when I woke up, the overall growing rudeness of society was on my mind. I revved up the computer, opened my email, and lo and behold, I had received Cheryl Richardson's weekly newsletter.

Her topic? "Speak Up: Are You Tolerating Bad Behavior?" Hmmm! God and the whole universe must have heard my concerns.

Here is an excerpt from her newsletter: "Use your voice. Speak up. Tell your truth. Stop tolerating less than what the wisest part of you knows you deserve. These are some of the messages woven into my next book, The Art of Extreme Self Care: Transform Your Life One Month at a Time."

Following a story of a young mother with two children, Cheryl further notes, "When we learn to speak up for ourselves, for example, we feel compelled to speak up for others who haven't yet found their voice. When we learn to stop tolerating bad behavior, we have a hard time allowing that same bad behavior to happen to others as well. When we start to accept a higher standard of living, we can't help but want that same standard for others, too. And, most important, when we learn these lessons that raise our level of consciousness, we begin to understand that we are all connected and that we have a responsibility to care for one another."

Cheryl's Take Action Challenge is, "This week, practice speaking up to insure that you have the skills to not only take good care of yourself, but also care for others as well. Look for at least one opportunity a day to use your voice. Offer your opinion during a meeting, tell your partner what you need to feel more supported, or set limits with a friend who drains your energy with her constant complaining. When you learn to speak up in little ways each day, you'll find that you can count on your voice to be there when you need it most."

In this particular forum, there were comments about the number of people no longer participating in the forum. Gosh, I wonder why!

It isn't just this one forum, I have seen this in a number of areas on the web and in society around us. It isn't just because of the economic crisis either, this has been going on for a while. I started noticing a rudeness somewhere around the mid-1990's in the workplace, and at church, of all places.

I was taught to live by the golden rule, do unto others... but, unfortunately, quite a number of people didn't seem to have that kind of "bringing up" causing them to miss an opportunity to be kind to one another, make a positive difference in someone else's life.

As sad as it is to walk away from a forum that actually had people with experience and knowledge they were willing to share, I know in my life I am not willing to pay the price of experiencing their negativity to gain that knowledge.

What do you think? Have you experienced a growing rudeness around you? How are you treating others? Are you willing to take Cheryl's challenge this week?