Cultural differences and your opinion....

Have you ever just been walking in a mall, driving down the road or sitting at a cafe and felt like the world was going around you in slow motion, you can't hear anything, no one see's you and it feels like you just might me in a dream.

It isn't until that one person steps in front of you or the bright tail lights of an SUV illuminates to give you a wake up call that if I don't snap out of this dream I'm going to hit the back of this truck....... that is when total instinct takes over and your foot thankfully slams on the breaks.

As you sit on the bus, you see so many faces come and go....some with their family, some with a friend and some with no one at all, one wonders what are they thinking, do they have someone they are going home to, does anyone love them, is there something that gives them purpose, what is it that makes them so different then me.

They seem foreign!

Yes maybe they speak a different language and yes maybe they are of a different culture and back ground, they may eat different foods and their perspective on things might be a just a little different then mine, but one thing remains the same, everyone longs to have purpose, everyone wants to feel loved and everyone wants to be heard.

What makes it so easy to judge one that is vastly different then us?

As a foreigner in the country of Austria I am more aware of the mind sets of others and opinions of one might be towards those that may dress differently, might not know the language and just simply stand out from the rest because of their lack of knowledge or experience.

It is often that I go about my day thinking what is that makes us all so different from one another?

Culture, Politics and Religion set us apart....this is true!


But let us be aware that life is full of imperfect things and imperfect people, learn to accept each others faults and choose to celebrate, accept, and appreciate each other for their differences. That is when I believe we all will truly understand that we really aren't much different from the next and when judging of cultures, criticizing and fear of the unknown will no longer set the opinion of those who have not experienced cultural differences for themselves.

A lack of exposure and knowledge of other cultures is often how our opinions, our critical attitudes and our mindsets become misconstrued.


There is no doubt that each and everyone of us notice the differences between one another. Even my small children notice the difference between a child that is sad, sick, of another color or behavior but what makes then so different?

Are they blessed or are we blessed.....are they different or are we different? What and who determines that? Often we allow our opinion to determine what culture is normal, or we choose to allow our government, our own culture, our Biblical beliefs or even Hollywood to determine what is acceptable or normal.

Live, Laugh, Love.....the reality of your life might differ from mine but we all are living in this world together, we must laugh along with the good and the bad that comes our way, and Love the challenges that we face that are meant to make us a better person....we stand for what we believe, we fight for freedom and we are convinced that our reality is the only one out there.

I challenge you to go beyond the four walls of where you live, and dig past the prejudice feelings of what you might think, feel and seem to believe is true. I promise that you will be amazed how much you have in common with whom you thought was so different and foreign from yourself.