Everyone we know is going through something and it takes humility to understand someone's behavior could be affected by something going on in their life. It's been attributed to a few people but still true that far too often we judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions.
Pass the salt
I was in a situation last week where three of us were out for lunch. One buddy is going through a horrific divorce and the other friend doesn't know him all that well. Cue the awkward when friend number two decides to drop into friend number one's situation (which has been going on for two years) and lob a bunch of advice. Suffice it to say, the lunch ended abruptly.
Hey, intentionally or unintentionally, we all do it and often we don't mean it. We want to help, offer some advice, and without proper context, purpose solutions. The most difficult challenge in the human condition is our emotional health.
One in One
If you say you've never had an incident in your life, you're fooling yourself. We have all had at least one and most of us a lot more than one.
It's not a splint for a dislocated shoulder or a cast for a fractured ankle; it's a confusing stream of physically undetectable symptoms we can't often describe.
What bothers me may not even occur to you. What makes you doubtful might not register on my radar. Which gets us back to the compassion of others.
So, let's try it this week. Ask someone how they are doing and wait for the answer.
You might be helping someone more than you know.
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