Impudence might be a new word for some of you reading this, but the meaning pertains to a demeanor we usually develop from our surroundings. Impudence refers to disrespectful behavior towards people.
It is known that as kids we pick up habits from what we see around us. Imagine being a bird and living in a place where birds don’t fly. Then one day, you go to a place where birds do fly like it’s normal. Do you think you can fly too now?
As Alejandro Jodorowsky said, “Birds born in a cage, think flying is a disease”.
We humans find it difficult to accept differences. Yet, we are the ones who created unwanted differences in the first place. The irony has every right to laugh at us.
Did you think of an answer yet? To the question of whether you can fly now?
Probably you can, because that’s what is called growing up and outgrowing things that no longer serve you. When you’re stuck in a place, you might miss out on a lot of things.
Not introducing to newer things, or things that are different from our beliefs makes the virtue of acceptance more and more elusive. We think of differences as erroneous. Anything that is not us, must be wrong. And wrongs deserve no respect, isn’t it?
I was 19 when I left my home to pursue higher studies. And I will be forever grateful for my decision. Because, when I left home, I discovered what it feels to be humane in real terms.
Yes, I was intimidated but soon something inside me started to change. I saw how considerate humans can be towards each other. I realized that differences make us unique and believable. That our differences have nothing to do with being right or wrong.
We often bully, disrespect, and hate people who are different from us. If it seems right to you, then you deserve the same from them, isn’t it? Close your eyes, clean your head, and think once, does anyone deserve contempt for who they are as an individual?
Your differences are no grounds to pull someone down or to put down their accomplishments. Pulling someone down to lift yourself is selfish, don’t you think so?
Rather, accept your flaws and incapabilities. None of us are perfect and maybe perfect doesn’t exist. It’s all about how you carry yourself and own up to what you are. Accepting yourself is courageous and the first step to loving yourself.
People who are not accepting of themselves become the ones who can never accept anyone else completely. Life’s not a competition, it’s a journey of discovering who you are as a person. And also about what you do with everything that you have.
We might be different in terms of how we look, what we perceive, but humanity unites us all.