Tired of People Being So Offended?

Linda Kelly, MSW, RSW, CEO, Psychotherapist

​Are you tired of being told to be sensitive? Are you resonating with the #tiredofgenerationsnowflake trend? You might be suffering from social media overkill.
 
So take a break. Chill.

This is a significant time in human history where we are finally starting to treat other humans as sentient beings. We are finally realizing that it’s wrong to treat women like property, to chalk up their value to their childbearing capabilities.
 
It has finally become not-okay to literally own another person.
 
We finally know how harmful it is to judge a person on the colour of their skin or exclude them because of what they were raised to believe.
 
We are finally becoming aware of the astronomical suicide rate of elderly individuals who work their whole lives just to be devalued and made purposeless, or of veterans that dedicate everything they have to the dream of being heroic just to be shunned for developing PTSD.
 
We finally realize that individuals who were born with genes that made them different from the norm are impacted when we assume they are just like us, when we call them by the wrong gender pronoun, or assume their same-sex friend is only a friend and nothing more.
 
Through open, respectful dialogue, we are learning that teens are more aware of the state of the world, the struggling economy, and the consequences of climate change than ever before. We are realizing that infantilizing them instead of treating them as equally valuable adds to their hopelessness, powerlessness, and depression.

So if you are tired of being warned about how you might be offending someone, ask yourself one thing:

What does it cost me to be mindful of these issues?

​Being kind, compassionate, and aware can make all the difference in a person’s life.
 
If you’re tired of the seemingly constant warnings of what not to do, give yourself a break from them. Just don’t deprive yourself of the opportunity to learn.
 
You can only make the world a better place with an open mind and an open heart.