Would you still give the driver the finger…
If you knew he cut you off because his wife in the passenger seat was in labor?
Would you still roll your eyes at a grouchy old man that ran into your kids in the donut line…
If you knew the love of his life passed away last week?
Would you still call the boy"weird" for wearing a dress…
If you knew your little boy would one day want to wear a dress?
Would you still tell all your friends that your child's teacher was "lazy"…
If you knew they would catch a very serious issue about your child before you ever would?
Would you punish your child's poor behavior the same …
If you knew kids on the bus made fun of how they looked that day?
Would you still make rude comments or posts on social media…
If you knew your child would read it?
Would you still accusatorially stare at the mother when her child screamed on the floor….
If you knew her child was autistic and they've had so much growth but today, she's exhausted?
Would you still lose your patience with the waitress and deem her unintelligent…
If you knew that English is not her first language but she's actually wildly intelligent- much more so than yourself?
Would you get off our phone, make eye contact, and say thank you to the Giant Direct worker…
If you knew she contemplated leaving this world last night?
Wouldn't it be interesting… if we lived in a world where we were all privileged to see the whole picture?
---If only WE knew.---
Right before we were about to act we suddenly saw the "insides" of the other person.
We didn't just see the present moment and how it affected us but we saw it all- in their eyes, from their "shoes".
How our own singular actions can then impact their puzzle…and then the connecting web of another's puzzle.
Would that slow us down?
Would that allow for the quick second of pause?
We can't be perfect.
Some of these points I made after observing another but some were made after personal reflection of my own actions. Yes, where I was the guilty one.
My newest goal is NOT just trying to see the good in everything and everyone because sometimes what's "good" is not clear.
It's also not to consider every minor aspect of every one singular moment in time but...
Instead I'm striving to allow for that extra moment of p.a.u.s.e. One in which allows for the space of the unknowns.
One in which allows for that moment in which you think outside of your own self. One in which allows you to act not on just personal emotion or fear or frustration but instead patience, clarity, and grace.
That extra moment that allows you to sleep "good" at night.
I hope that as I become more jaded and angered by the realities of this world, as I become more enthralled with those that think differently, that I never lose touch with the fact that I do not know it all.
I hope I and others continue to wonder and push to change how we may behave differently....
If we knew.
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