You have no idea how others have been hurt over their lifetime. What they have endured. How they came to be where they are. How they’ve been wounded. What they fear. Their secrets, what they’ve hidden maybe for their entire life. What it takes for them to just survive. You can’t know.
And nobody can know that about you either. No matter how much you share, how often you tell your story. how accurately you tell someone about your pain. Others just can’t know.
Because they are not you. And you are not them. It’s really that simple. Could you accept this as the truth? If so, what does it teach you? How will you let it guide your life?
One thing it’s taught me is to not try to understand everything. To not expect that with enough effort or research or more details or an expanded mind that somehow, I will understand the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of everything and everybody.
I am more convinced than ever that I know very little. That makes me humble. It also makes me curious rather than certain. And it invites me to be a better listener.
Learning to be patient with myself and others.
Paula
