What is the benefit of Intolerance?

I know it's a crazy title, but thought it was just the perfect one to start off the new regular postings on the blog.

Now that I am older and a tad bit wiser, I will be posting with regularity every other Thursday. If you want to hear from me more often, you better write and tell me. (Or comment in the comments section!)

The brilliant title comes from the homework my coach gave me. Yes, a coach has a coach. (No, we cannot coach ourselves, just like doctors cannot operate on themselves...)

So, my coach asked me "What makes you angry?" And my immediate answer was "intolerance". Those of you who have been reading this blog know that I am all about inclusivity, tolerance, curiosity and openness. So the answer was a no-brainer.

Then she asked me, "So then, what is the positive side of intolerance?" Whaaaaaaat?!

My brain screeched to a halt. Um... is there one? Luckily, I realized that for me, a big believer in seeing from all sides, finding the benefit of intolerance had its purpose.

If I could learn to see the benefit of an opposite perspective, then I could use those benefits. So, I got to work.

Here is what I came up with:

• Intolerance helps me to keep my boundaries. If I do not tolerate that people cross over them, they will learn that and not try to take advantage of me.
• If I am intolerant of people who tell racist jokes, then I will be more likely to speak out against it, or at least have the courage to tell them so.
• Intolerance brings out a kind of solidness and boldness in me that otherwise I do not allow myself to have.

In the end, I see that if I can be intolerant about things I hold near and dear, they provide me with a kind of grounding strength. Wow. Not what I expected at all.

Try it. Ask yourself "What makes me angry? What can I NOT stand?"

Then ask yourself the positive side of that thing. You might be surprised at what you find!