People have sometimes asked me over the years how it seems like I can get along with almost anybody---even people that others consider being "jerks", and they want to know the "secret".

Well, I am like everybody else---there are people I like and there are people I don't. The only difference may be that I have had some spiritual insights on this subject that I am trying to practice in life. You see all the time how people clash with each other---they either get upset with one another, become covertly hostile or avoid each other and even start talking behind their backs. I try to do the opposite to that to the best of my abilities---I'm not saying it's always easy, but I'll tell you why I do it:

I know from my research and from my inner spiritual knowledge that we all are ONE with God. We are just separated souls from one big original soul we call God. And if we all are separated parts of God, we are all the same. So how come then that we are so apparently different that we don't even like each other sometimes?

What I have noticed over the years is that we all have any and every emotion within ourselves that you can think of, and more---that goes for all of us, no exceptions. It means we all have evil and good inside of us---we all are capable of violence and we are all capable of love.

The difference is what each one of us has chosen, consciously and subconsciously, to express and put before the other in our personalities. Some people, for any given reason, have decided to let their "light side" come to front while other chose the "dark side" and then there are all shades in between and most of us express both in balance or imbalance. We basically choose who we are, but life circumstances can also shape and form our personalities in unwanted ways as an effect of how we respond to unpleasant situations in our daily lives---this is particularly true in our childhood. Sometimes we choose evil and violence as a defense mechanism and the more we do it, it becomes a prominent part of our personalities.

Then, let's say you have chosen to express love and light and to be helpful and caring towards others. You are of a mild nature and then meet somebody who may have a dark and harsh side in his/her personality that they habitually express and you don't like it. You may now start doing one or more of the things mentioned in the beginning of this article. But why?

Because you don't want to be reminded of that you also have the same attributes inside yourself as the person you dislike and you don't want it to come to surface from within yourself! You have been choosing another path and don't want to be reminded of the sides of you that you are not "proud of".

This also works the other way around---people who express a darker personality can't stand people who spread love and light.

So what I am trying to do when I meet a person whom I instantly don't like is to attempt to recognize his/her attributes in myself and acknowledge that they are there, but "sleeping" and that it's nothing to be ashamed of. I have chosen whom I want to be and what my goals are, and this other person chose something else---that's all. Once I recognize this, I feel much better in the presence of this other person.

It's practice, I know, but a part of bringing love and light into the world---accept people the way they are and always try to be yourself. If you are truly loving and caring, it will become contagious and those in your environment will pick up on it. Sometimes people tell me, "I don't even have to talk to you, it just feels good to have you in my presence". That's when I know I am on the right track!