Could you face your enemies without animosity?

I was reading Diane K. Danielson's blog entry, Sometimes we just need to chat, with interest this morning.

I'm a great believer in the concept Diane mentions about tossing things out into the Universe. Negativity seems to become such an engrained way of life sometimes that we don't even see it as such anymore, just " the way it is." Everybody's out to get us. But are they really?

If we could put egos aside for awhile and simply sit down and have a conversation with people, not only with those we like but with those we consider our rivals or out to thwart us, could we? Do you think it's possible to without feeling the need to either be defensive about where we stand or that our way's the only right one? 

Life would be so much simpler, especially our working life. It's a difficult step to take, dropping the shield of our ego. Make no mistake, there's no way you can extend yourself in a positive and genuine way to someone else if you don't that I can see.

I feel that to dislike someone, we need to dehumanize them in our eyes in some way. We look for the negatives about them. They become more demon than angel, which makes it ok for us to dislike them, does it not? Well, I guess if you want to spend your day seething about someone's real or imagined misdeeds, then it's alright.

On the other hand, if you''d prefer to send out some positive vibes to the Universe instead, then look for the more positive, human side of them. Just for one day. Sometimes I think we forget people have other things going on in their lives we know nothing about. All we see is the public face. We have no clue what they're struggling with in life, whether it be family, work, illness or all three.

Could you do it? More importantly, would you want to break out of your comfort zone and even attempt it? That's the big question.

I think it was Abraham Lincoln who said "I don't like that man. I really must get to know him better."  It's not so easy to hate someone's guts when you know them very well. Distance makes that emotion so much more simple.

When it comes to life's journey, I genuinely believe that when you give, you get. Maybe not right at that moment or from that particular person, but sending out positivity and good energy will be repaid to you in some form. You'll find it can draw out the best from people around you.

Why not try it, even if only to see the shocked look on their face when you're nice to them... ;) It'd be a start.