YES, I am tired AND where is the common ground? Yes/And

Early in my career I was trained in the power of Yes/And.  YES, I acknowledge your opinion, idea or view AND I will respect your opinion, idea or view and build on it with mine, until we find a common ground or solution.

We seem to have lost the idea to respectfully disagree while working towards common ground. We have a lot of big things happening in our world that come with a lot of strong emotions on all sides. It feels like everyone is expected to be an extremist; one way or the other.  I struggle because I find myself not on a side; I find myself in a position of Yes/And.

YES, I am against abortion and am happy that Roe vs. Wade is overturned AND I believe we need to revamp the adoption and foster system and provide better health care support to new moms and moms to be.  

YES, I believe in gun ownership and the second amendment AND I am disgusted by school shootings and know we need to do something.

YES, I believe marriage is between a man and a woman AND I don't feel it's my place to judge you if you live something different.  

YES, I believe in 2 genders, which are assigned at birth AND I believe today's youth are struggling with their own identity.

I saw this post the other day on Facebook; it sums everything up nicely.

"For all of you who aren’t sure,

It is possible to be gay and Christian.

It’s also possible to believe in God and science.

It is possible to be pro-choice and anti-abortion.

It is equally possible to be a feminist and love and respect men.

It’s possible to have privilege and be discriminated against, to be poor and have a rich life, to not have a job and still have money.

It is possible to believe in sensible gun control legislation and still believe in one’s right to defend one’s self, family, and property.

It’s possible to be anti-war and pro-military.

It is possible to love thy neighbor and despise his actions.

It is possible to advocate Black Lives Matter and still be pro-police.

It is possible to not have an education and be brilliant.

It is possible to be Muslim and also suffer at the hands of terrorists.

It is possible to be a non-American fighting for the American Dream.

It is possible to be different and the same.

We are all walking contradictions of what “normal” looks like.

Let humanity and love win."

Author Unknown

If anyone wants to talk about any of these, I'd love to dialogue with you, expand on my thoughts and learn your perspective. YES/AND. Let's try it!!!!