TALES FROM THE BOBBI LAMA

Having the courage to share my beliefs has never been something I could brag about. As someone who didn’t like upsetting people or having conflict with others, it was always easier for me to be quiet when I realized my beliefs were different from theirs. It was never important enough to take a chance at creating friction which might threaten a good relationship. Have you ever felt like this? Torn between having your voice and keeping the peace? For me, I always thought that beliefs can change over time as we learn more, have impactful experiences, or get older, so to take a strong position always seemed unwise….until I wrote my book.

I felt daring and concerned what the reaction would be to: You Don’t Know Jack!: How Antics from My Later Husband’s Spirit Give Undeniable Evidence of Afterlife. In it, I definitely shared my new discoveries. As I was writing, I realized my story would be hard to believe and even controversial as it might be met with reactions by those whose beliefs differ from mine (especially when I talk about signs from the other side.) However, I overcame my reluctance because it was so important to me to validate my late husband’s efforts. I also wanted to help people find comfort about their transitioned loved ones.

Fast forward to now… it’s a year after the book was published…it is fully “out there.” As the months went by, I had started to wonder if my book, my expressing something maybe surprising, would cause people to steer clear of me as if I was a grief-stricken widow who wanted to believe her late husband was not gone. Then this morning, I heard someone on television talk about what we have to understand about beliefs and opinions. Basically, every one of the eight billion people in this world has unique and personal beliefs and opinions about everything…all eight billion people! We will, in fact, differ. And that’s not bad. It just is the way it is. The message was that we all have them, and we should all be mature enough to listen to those of others while being different and still be okay. It’s not a threat, and thinking differently is not bad. Civil discourse allows us to open our minds to so much more than what’s collected in our own heads from our own individual experiences. I had to get over my worry that writing about my beliefs of an afterlife would affect people as unacceptable. It may or may not be a different belief system from each of my readers, but that’s okay. It will just be mine.

My wish is that we can learn to listen to one another’s beliefs and express our own with an acceptance and interest that will stimulate our brains, help us grow, and draw us together.