The Pusher

Two weeks ago I wound up in the urgent care clinic because of strep throat--my second case of the infection in the last month. I was talking to the nurse about the measures I had taken to fight it off, including tinctures of nettle leaf and echinacea and lathering myself with essential oils. But there comes a point when you have to go at it with harder meds, so that's why I was there--to knock it out with antibiotics. The nurse asked me what kind of oils I used (young living) and said a friend of hers swore by those and that she constantly talked about them and tried to convince everyone to try them. I could tell by the way she relayed this that her friend's fervent persuasion had ruined it for her. She was too pushy, too all or nothing, and completely unwilling to see any side but her own. Everyone knows that kind of person, the type that becomes extremist in their beliefs to the point that they are blinded to anything but and come across as elitist. Whether it be a workout, a religion, a political stance, or a diet--they climb that mountain and see nothing but the side they are facing. A lot of times what they're pushing is a good and valid thing, but because they have that pushy "there is only one way" mentality, those benefits are lost. Just as one bad seed can spoil a bunch, so can one pushy voice turn us off. It's as if the louder the words are spoken, the less people hear (unless of course they're already on that bandwagon). Again and again in life I come back to that line from Bob Dylan's "To Ramona" song--"you're better than no one and no one is better than you." Not only does it remind me not to judge others, not only does it give me confidence, but it also reminds me that there are a lot of ways of being. I do appreciate the fact that people are passionate about whatever issue they espouse, but let us all remember that there are a lot of ways of being. When we lose sight of that fact, well, really we lose.