Monday, 23rd September 2013 (North Side, Anguilla)—I have come to realise that we have to stop thinking, believing and saying Anguilla is only for Anguillians because weare now a multi-national nation with individuals from all around the globe coming to our shores. Some come for merely a few days or weeks. Others are here for several months. Still more have been on island for many years and they’ve made Anguilla their home, residing year round. So we need to learn to welcome and embrace everyone in our community because in essence all a’ we are one people.
If all a‘we are one people, why do we treat each other differently?
Why do we still sometimes act like this country is only made up of one nationality or is solely forAnguillians? I’m beginning to think that we really need to shift our conscious awarenessand embrace all people as one; open the doors wide to accepting the persons who visit us, and the individuals and families who choose to make Anguilla their place of residence.
We are all human beings of the same human race.In our true essence, we are made of the same flesh and blood no matter thephysical features of our bodies like hair, skin or eye colour, religious faith or spiritual beliefs, family name or relations, or political persuasions. We most definitely feel our oneness when persons in our community pass on like the young men, Silwood Connor and Marlon Harrigan, who died from sever injuries sustained in a tragic automobile accident on Thursday night, 19th September. It didn’t matter whether or not we were personally acquainted with Marlon orSil; we all felt grief and mourned theirpassing.
But if all a’ we are one, then why do we highlight our differences and not acknowledge our similarities? Perhaps it stems from a notionthat’s best expressed in the phrase “blue bloods”.This term was used to refer to the aristocrats, nobles or gentry,who according to man’s definition had wealth and power. They were considered to be the highest-ranking persons in society, above the common people. In truth, they wereno different from you or me.If anyone of uspricksa finger, weseethe same red coloured blood pouring from our veins. We’re made up of the same molecules of energy. It’s merely genetics and DNA mixing that constitutes the differencesinour physical features,makes us appear to besimilar to or differentfrom one another.
Each one of us has a soul. Every one of us has a divine connection to God the Creator whether or not we believe in this creation concept.None of us is really any different on the inside. We are one and the same within. If we can see that God exists in every living creature including the planet on which we live, then may be we will learn to accept all human beings and to respect, take care of every living being, great or small including Mother Earth.
So why do we treat people differently and not the same?
I’ve had many discussions with a number of friends as to why we treat people differently who we perceivearen’t like us. Perhaps, it’s because of our home training, what our parents, grandparents, teachers or religious leaders taught us. In this day and age, I would dare say much of our thinking and beliefs come from the images that are seen in various mind-altering,marketing media such as television, magazines, movies, and videos. We’re easily persuaded to believe these pictures to be the truth of who we are or who others are.Just look at what is projected to the public eye on how girls and women should dress, look and act.
My mind isbaffled as to how we are so often unconsciously awareof the negative images that are portrayed and how we are brainwashed to believe a certain way merely by what we watch, read and are taught. We really need to shift our consciousness and explore what are the truths, not merely what beliefs are projected onto us by the mass media or another person’s belief system. Look at what happened to the Jews in Germany or Native Americans and Japanese in America; even our own ancestors who were Africans and enslaved.
Think about how we treat every person whom we encounter in our daily lives, not just those closest to us,like familyand friends. We also need toinclude co-workers, business associates, church members, strangers whom we meet on the street, customers and clients as well asvisitors whom we serve, our neighbours who live next door.We really need to examine how we treat allpeople.
Do we treat each person as we wish to be treated ourselves? Or do we treat people differently basedon our perception of the individual? Do we give priority topeople inpositions of authority?And do we believe our job responsibility entitles us to abuse others’ rights? Or do we give preferential treatment because of family connections or friendship?
Silently ask yourself these questions and see how you respond.Then come up with some viable solutions on how you can change or improve upon the way you treat every person, man, woman and child whom you meet or interact with. We mightmerely need to make a slight change in our conscious awareness. For example, acknowledging a customer’s presence with a cheerful greeting of “good morning”, sincerely asking afriend how he or she is doing and listening intently to his or her reply, or taking time to talk with a youth or elder person.
Welcoming and embracing everyone in our community
Whether we work in government departments, at hotels or restaurants, with children and youths in schools, with inmates in prison, or on the roads collecting garbage, we need to all be cognisant of how we treat every person whom we encounter, as well as how we treat our own selves. How we treat others is a reflection of how we feel aboutand treat ourselves. If we give loving kindness, compassion and understanding to ourselves, then we are able to give it to others. If we have patience with ourselves and are forgiving when we err, then we will be able to do the same with others.
As a nation of many peoples, we need to be welcoming and courteous to every single person whom we encounter in our every day lives if we want to make a difference in ourselves and in our community. We also need to stop alienating people who are not born in this country,as well asAnguillians who haven’t stayed on island for their entire lifetime, but went abroad to study or work. We mustbecome inclusive of all people, not exclusive, excluding the many or few whom we falsely believe aren’t like us.
I’ve written all of these words to helpus become more consciously aware of how we welcome, greet and treat the many persons who come to our shores for visits, and who live with us in the various villages of our districts. All of us would do well to conduct a serious self-examination of our individual selves, looking deeply within and examining our own personal attitudes towards people who are Anguillian by birth andpersons,who are of another nationality, individuals who are related to us through family ties or marriage, as well as the ones who have no relations to us. We need to query ourselves and find out what makes us have these non-inclusive views of our fellow human beings who share the same colour blood as we do.
Be we from Anguilla, Jamaica, Guyana, Dominican Republic, Canada, USA, Trinidad, Denmark, Germany, England, Ireland or elsewhere, we are all one people. We just have different physical features, and speak several languages with various accents. Wehave diverse educational and vocational training, believe in a multitude ofreligiousfaiths or spiritual practices, and we have at times opposing political party views.
How can we improve upon the way we welcome, greet and treat people?
If we all smiled, greeted people warmly, were polite and respectful to each person we meet, gave everyone correct information and proper forms to fill out inour places of business where we work, and took pride in happily greeting all, then we would all play a significant role in helping to create an inclusive world communityfor Anguilla. Our differences of skin or hair colour, religion, political beliefs, profession, or socio-economic standing would not matter anymore. These factors are onlyattributes that make us the unique persons whom we are.
Perhaps, maintaining these kinds of positive qualities in all areas in every department, each business enterprise and organisation, as well as with our families and friends in our island-wide community would ensure that each one of us could live better lives. We might even return to the days of jollification when we reached out and helped our neighbours, giving of what little we had or sharing the wealth of what we received.
Presenting these good attributes as we greet and welcome visitors when they enter our air and seaports would be a sure guarantee that significant numbers of tourists woulddesire to come to our shores. Theywould no doubt make repeated visits to Anguilla inviting their families, friends and colleagues to join them in our “tranquillity wrapped in blue”.Whether day-trippers or visitorsstaying on island, they would gladly spread the word telling all that the people of Anguilla are the friendliest and most accommodating of anywhere they’ve ever travelled. We could become known as “Anguilla, the Friendly Isle”.
With this kind of mind shift, we wouldbe able to consciously work towards increasing tourism and manifesting the vision of Anguilla’s prosperity that Mrs Melinda Goddard, Principal of ClienTell Consulting LLC presented in the Anguilla44 concept.If we worked together on improving how we welcome and embrace everyone in our community, we could surely have 44 weeks of fulloccupancy in accommodationsand full-timeemployment that we have annually duringthe week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. And if we increased the tourism statistics with more visitors coming on island, then we wouldbe able to create a sustainable economy for Anguilla. Now that would truly benefitall of us.
So let’s do our part to raise the conscious awareness of our people. Conduct self-examinations uncovering areas for improvement. Be truthful and honest with our selves.Take small measurable steps to change the way we’ve always done things. Be innovative in how we greet people. Change up our styles and create a sense of warmth in welcoming people. Use our ingenuity. Re-mould attitudes we show towards one another. Put on a happy face even when we don’t feel like it.Encouragesomeone else.Compliment another person.
With a little bit of work, I am confident that we can all make positive adjustments and improve our selfless service skills. We can change our mind-sets andgladly serve others with a genuine smile and pleasant attitude. All a’ we are Ambassadors for Anguilla and we’re equally capable of graciously welcomingand embracingeveryone in our island nation.
May God continue to bless each one of us as we endeavour to improve our selves, and may theblessings of the Lord continually reign in our lives!
Kay M. Ferguson is a Creative Writer and Spiritual Seeker who firmly believes that each person has the ability to work on her or himself to create a more positive impact in the circle of life.To share your thoughts or comments, you canlink with Kayviamobile 264 476 8735 or US landline 1 206 388 4848, send an online message at www.facebook.com/kaymferguson, emailanguillawriter@gmail.com,or tweet @kaykayferguson.
